Bond Length

Bond Length
● It refers to the average length between two specific atoms in
covalent bond.
● It is dependent on the nature of the atoms involved in the bond as
well as in the type of bond that is formed.
● As the bond length increases, the bond strength weakens.
● We use picometer(pm) in measuring the bond length
● Take note that not all elements follows the octet rule.
● H and He are exemptions and follow the duet rule.
● For example, H atom only have 1 valence electron that occupies the only
orbital at the main energy level.

● Therefore, H atom only needs 1 more valence electron to be stable.

● Knowing the electron structure of the H atom and how it reacts with other
nonmetals because H is a common component among covalent compounds.
● Example of these compounds are water(H2O), and methane(CH4)
● An example of covalent bonding that follows both duet and octet
rule is the formation of hydrogen chloride(HCl).
● H has an electron configuration of 1s2 while Cl has an electron
configuration of 1s22s22p63s23p5
● You would notice that H now have two valence electrons while Cl
have 8 which makes both of them, stable.
● There are some diatomic molecules such as H2, O2, and N2, are made up of

the same atoms in a covalent bond.

● What makes non metal share rather than transfer electrons to fulfill the
octet rule?
● Remember that the higher the electronegativity of the atom, the higher is its
power to attract electrons toward itself.
● In the case of H2, O2, and N2 molecules,there’s an equal sharing of electrons
because the bonded atoms are of the same kind.
● Therefore, they have the same value.
● The bond that exist between these atoms is called nonpolar covalent bond,
and the molecule they form is called nonpolar molecule.
 Other examples of nonpolar molecules are:

● Carbon dioxide(CO2)

● Benzene(C6H6)

● Carbon tetrachloride(CCl4)

● Methane(CH4)

● Ethylene(C2H4)
● On the other hand, the covalent bond in HCl involves different atoms. You
can get the electronegativity values of elements in the periodic table.
● H has an electronegativity value of 2.1 eV while Cl have 3.0
● The degree of polarity in a chemical bond is dependent on the
electronegativity difference.
● Therefore, the degree of polarity in HCl is 0.9 and may be considered a polar
bond according to the table.
● In other words, chlorine has more power to attract the shared electrons
toward it forming a polar covalent bond.
● A further investigation on HCl reveals that the unequal sharing of electrons result in an
unequal electron cloud.
● The picture shows that the electron cloud of Cl is larger than the electron cloud of H.

● The unequal sharing also forms the partial positive(δ+) and partial negative(δ-) charges in
the molecule. The magnitude separation between the charges is expressed as electric
dipole moment(μ)
● The non-SI metric unit used to express the electric dipole moment as debye(D), where
1D= 3.34 x 10-30 C /m.
● The electric dipole moment can be calculated using the equation: “μ = qr” where
the distance(length of the chemical bond) and q is the magnitude of the charge.
● It could also be used to calculate the percent(%) ionic character, which is given by:

“%ionic character = measured dipole moment of bond ÷ dipole moment if

electrons are completely transferred”

● In this case, the partial positive is the H atom because the shared electrons are
being pulled away from it due to its lower electronegativity.
● On the other hand, the Cl atom is the partial negative becathe shared electrons
are residing more units side due to higher electronegativity.
● The result is a dipole moment which is directed towards the Cl atom.