Engineering Materials Science

CHAPTER 2 - Atomic Bonding

Atomic structure

To understand bonding between atoms → Studying the structure of atoms

Schematic of the planetary

model of a C12 atom

 The nucleus is much smaller, but contains nearly all the mass of the atom
 Each proton and neutron has a mass = 1.66 x 10-24 g = 1 atomic mass unit (amu)
ex : C12 contains 6 protons and 6 neutrons has an atomic mass = 12 amu.
 1 g = 0.6023 x 1024 amu : Avogadro’s number
 Avogadro’s number represents the number of protons and neutrons produce a mass of 1 g.
 Avogadro’s number of atoms is termed a gram-atom : mole ( Avogadro’s num. of C12 have mass of 12 g)
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 Vertical columns in the periodic table : similar groups

 Atomic bonding involves electrons and electron orbitals
 Mass electron = 0.991 x 10-27 g, negligible ahead the atomic mass of an element
 Charge of electron = - 0.16 x 10-18 coulomb (C) = - charge of a proton (neutron : electrically neutral)
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 As shown in C12 structure, electrons are grouped at fixed orbital positions about the nucleus.
 Each orbital radius is characterized by an energy level, a fixed binding energy between the
electrons and its nucleus.

 The six electrons in C12 are described as the configuration 1s22s22p2 .

 In fact, the 4 electrons in the outer orbital redistribute themselves in a more symmetrical fashion
to produce the characteristic geometry of bonding between carbon atoms and adjacent atoms
(1s22s12p3). This sp3 configuration in the second energy level of carbon, called hybridization.
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The Ionic Bond
Electron transfer from one atom to another.
ex : NaCl
The transfer of an electron from Na produces a more stable electronic configuration (cation Na+).
Similarly, the Cl accepts the electron from the Na to produce a stable ion (anion Cl-).
The atomic bonding between Na+ and Cl- is called ionic bond.
Characteristic :
 The atomic bond is nondirectional
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 The ionic bond is the result of the coulombic attraction between the oppositely charged species :
K
Fc 
a2
With a : distance between ion centers, and K is :

K  ko  ( Z 1q )  ( Z 2 q )

With Z is the valence of the charged ion (+1 for Na ion and -1 for Cl ion), q is the charge of an
electron (0.16 x 10-18 C) and ko is a proportionality constant = 9 x 109 Vm/C.
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 The distance a between ions in ionic bond cannot be zero because the attempt to move two
oppositely charged ions closer together to increase coulombic attraction is counteracted by an
opposing repulsive force.

FR  l e  a / r
With l and r are experimentally determined constants for a given ion pair.
 The resultant bonding force is the net force of attraction or repulsion function of the distance a.

F  Fc  FR
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 The Bonding energy E, is related to bonding force by :

dE
F
da
 The equilibrium distance a0 (corresponds to F = 0) also
corresponds to a minimum in the energy curve .

 ao it follows that this bond length is the sum of two ionic

radii for NaCl:

a0  r r
Na  Cl 

Hard-sphere model

Soft-sphere model
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 Coordination number:
• The coordination number (CN) is the number of adjacent ions (or atoms) surrounding a
reference ion (or atom). For each ion shown in Figure (NaCl) the CN is 6: each ion has six
nearest neighbors.
• For ionic compounds, the coordination number of the smaller ion can be calculated by
considering the greatest number of larger ions (of opposite charge) that can be in contact
with the smaller one.
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 Coordination number:
• This number (CN) depends directly on the relative sizes of the oppositely charged ions. This
relative size is characterized by the radius ratio (r/R), where r is the radius of the smaller ion
and R is the radius of the larger one.
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The Covalent Bond

 The name covalent derives from the cooperative sharing of valence electrons
between two adjacent atoms (valence electrons are those outer orbital electrons that
take part in bonding).
 The covalent bond is highly directional.
 The Figure bellow illustrates the covalent bond in a molecule of chlorine gas (Cl2)
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 Another covalent bond can occur: the double bond (ethylene (C2H4)). The double line between
the two carbons signifies the double bond, or covalent sharing of two pairs of valence electrons.

 By converting the double bond to two single bonds, adjacent ethylene molecules can be covalently
bonded together, leading to a long-chain molecule of polyethylene.
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 Long-chain molecules have sufficient flexibility to fill threedimensional space by a complex coiling
structure.
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 The bonding force and bonding energy curves for covalent bonding look similar to those of ionic
bonding. The ionic force equations do not apply in covalent bonding.
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 An important characteristic of covalent solids is the bond angle, which is determined by the
directional nature of valence electron sharing.
 The figure bellow illustrates the bond angle for a typical carbon atom, which tends to form four
equally spaced bonds. This tetrahedral configuration gives a bond angle of 109.5°.
 The bond angle can vary slightly depending on the species to which the bond is linked.
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The Metallic Bond

 The valence electrons are said to be delocalized electron. They have an equal probability of being
associated with any of a large number of adjacent atoms.
 In typical metals, this delocalization is associated with the entire material, leading to an electron
cloud, or electron gas. This mobile "gas" is the basis for the high electrical and thermal conductivity
in metals.
 it’s a strong bond that acts identically (isotropically) in all directions of space. This type of bonding
favors the creation of simple crystalline structures of metals