Lesson 18.

Covalent Compounds and the

Formation of Covalent Bonds

General Chemistry 1
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Humans practice
sharing in our
everyday lives through
kindness and love.
Through this, we form
bonds with each other.

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Sharing also happens
at an atomic level.
Nonmetallic atoms
share electrons to
attain stability.

3
In this lesson, you will be able to understand how covalent
bonding takes place in terms of sharing electrons as well as
the types of covalent compounds.

4
How do covalent bonds
form?

5
 Learning Competency
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do the following:

● Describe covalent bonding in terms of

electron sharing (STEM_GC11CB-IId-g-75).

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 Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do the following:

● Describe covalent bonding in terms of electron

sharing.

● Differentiate polar and nonpolar covalent bonds.

● Explain how polyatomic ions are formed through

covalent bonding.

● Enumerate common examples of covalent

compounds and their uses.
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 Covalent Bond Formation

● Nonmetallic atoms share valence electrons such that

each atom has a stable electron configuration
● Nonmetals have high ionization energies, valence
electrons are shared by nonmetal atoms to achieve
stability.
● When two or more atoms share electrons, a molecule
is formed.

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 Covalent Bond Formation

● The simplest molecule is

hydrogen, H2.

● Covalent bond due to the

attraction of the positive
charge of each nucleus
to the electron of the
A hydrogen molecule is composed of two
other atom hydrogen atoms that share electrons.
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 Covalent Bond Formation

● This attraction, which is

greater than the
repulsion between the
two valence electrons,
pulls the atoms closer
together until they share
a pair of electrons.
A hydrogen molecule is composed of two
hydrogen atoms that share electrons.
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 Covalent Bond Formation

● H2 is a diatomic
molecule.

● Similar to the hydrogen

molecule are fluorine,
nitrogen, and oxygen
molecules.

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 Bonding Pairs and Lone Pairs

● In a covalent bond, each

atom considers the shared
electrons as part of the
atom itself to achieve a full
outer level of electrons.
● shared pair or bonding
pair represented by a pair In covalent bonds, pairs of
of dots or a line. electrons may be categorized as
bonding pairs or lone pairs.
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 Bonding Pairs and Lone Pairs

● A pair of valence electrons

is not involved in the
bonding.

● lone pair or unshared

pair In covalent bonds, pairs of
electrons may be categorized as
bonding pairs or lone pairs.
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 Bonding Pairs and Lone Pairs

For example,

The bonding pair, together

with the three lone pairs of F,
fill the outer shell of each
atom with eight electrons,
thus satisfying the octet rule.

The formation of a fluorine molecule.

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 Bond Order

● A certain number of pairs of electrons involved in a

covalent bond

● The number of electron pairs being shared by a given

pair of atoms

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 Bond Order

Single Bond
● one bonding pair of electrons; most common bond
● bond order = 1
● illustrated with one line ( 一 )
● examples of molecules with a single bond are H2, F2,
and hydrofluoric acid, HF.

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 Bond Order

Double Bond
● two bonding electron pairs; there are four electrons
between two atoms that form double bonds
● bond order = 2
● illustrated with two lines ( ＝ )
● multiple bonds usually involve C, O, and N atoms

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Bond Order

Ethylene (C2H4) contains a carbon-carbon double bond and four

carbon-hydrogen single bonds.
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 Bond Order

Triple Bond
● three shared pairs of
electrons; two atoms share
six electrons
● bond order = 3

In N2, each N atom shares three

bonding pairs and has one lone
pair to satisfy the octet rule.
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 Bond Order

Triple Bond
● illustrated by three lines
(☰)
● e.g., the nitrogen molecule,
N2, has a triple bond.

In N2, each N atom shares three

bonding pairs and has one lone
pair to satisfy the octet rule.
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In covalent bonding, how are
bonding pairs related to the
bond order?

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 Polar and Nonpolar Covalent Bonds

● The electrons being shared between atoms in this type

of bond is not always equal.
● When two atoms from similar elements are bonded
together, the sharing of electrons is equal.
● However, in two atoms from different elements, there
will always be one atom that strongly attracts the
electron more than the other atom.

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 Polar and Nonpolar Covalent Bonds

● When this kind of imbalance occurs, it results in the

build-up of some negative charge (δ−) on one side of
the bond and some positive charge (δ+) on the other
side of the bond.

● e.g., H2 versus HF

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 Polar and Nonpolar Covalent Bonds

H2
● each H atom equally shares the
electrons in a hydrogen molecule
● the e-’s are equally distributed hydrogen molecule

HF
● the e-’s shared are more attracted
to the F atom than the H atom
hydrofluoric acid
● unequal distribution of electrons 24
 Polar and Nonpolar Covalent Bonds

Nonpolar Covalent Bond

● involves the equal sharing of electrons between atoms
● when two atoms have the same electronegativity or
the tendency of an atom to attract a bonding pair of
electrons
○ e.g., in the bond between the atoms H2, each H has
an electronegativity of 2.1.
○ both have an equal amount of capacity to attract
electrons. 25
Polar and Nonpolar Covalent Bonds

A nonpolar covalent bond exists in H2. 26

 Polar and Nonpolar Covalent Bonds

Polar Covalent Bond

● involves the unequal sharing of electrons between
atoms of different elements
● the degree of polarity between atoms varies widely
○ some bonds are considered minimally polar, while
some bonds are strongly polar
○ the electronegativity difference between atoms
ranges from 0.4 to 1.7. The degree of polarity of the
molecule may be determined as well. 27
 Polar and Nonpolar Covalent Bonds

A polar covalent bond happens due to the unequal distribution of

electrons within the molecule. Here, a significant difference in their
electronegativities is present. 28
Remember

In a nonpolar covalent bond, there is an

equal sharing of electrons between atoms
due to the no or very little difference
between their electronegativities. On the
other hand, a polar covalent bond
involves the unequal sharing of electrons
between atoms of different elements. This
is due to the significant difference
between their electronegativities. 29
How is ion formation made
possible in a covalent
bonding?

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 Covalent Bond in Polyatomic Ions

Polyatomic Ion
● a covalently bonded atoms with an overall ionic charge
● overall charge depends on the number of protons and
electrons present in a molecule
● behaves as a single unit
● interacts with other ions to form a polyatomic ionic
compound

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Covalent Bond in Polyatomic Ions

Common examples of polyatomic ions. 32

 Covalent Bond in Polyatomic Ions

Sulfate ion, SO42-

● 4 single covalent bonds between S

and O
● both S and O have six valence
electrons, when these atoms share
electrons to attain stability, its total
number of electrons as a molecule
becomes 32 33
 Covalent Bond in Polyatomic Ions

Sulfate ion, SO42-

● This total number of shared

electrons is greater than the
supposedly combined 30 valence
electrons in both atoms.
● 2- ionic charge of the molecule

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 Covalent Compounds

● They are composed of nonmetals that share electrons

to obtain a stable electron configuration
● When atoms share electrons, the bond is covalent.
● Like ionic compounds, most covalent compounds are
naturally occurring, while some are synthesized in the
laboratory.
● Some examples are given in the following slides.

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Covalent Compounds

Covalent bond formation in a water molecule

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Covalent Compounds

Covalent bond formation in methane (CH4)

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 Covalent Compounds

Hydrochloric acid (HCl)

● also known as muriatic acid
● a strong acid used for industrial
purposes

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 Covalent Compounds

Hydrochloric acid (HCl)

● used for cleaning floor tiles and
toilet bowls when diluted in
water
● a small amount of HCl is present
in the human stomach to aid in
digestion

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 Covalent Compounds

Hydrofluoric acid (HF)

● highly acidic covalent compound

● very corrosive
● often used to etch glasses.

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 Check Your Understanding

Tell whether the statement is true or false.

1. In covalent bonds, electrons are transferred from one
atom to another.

2. Metals and nonmetals are involved in the covalent

bond.

3. In a covalent bond, each atom considers the shared

electrons as part of the atom itself to achieve a full
outer level of electrons.
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 Check Your Understanding

Tell whether the following description pertains to

polar or nonpolar covalent bonds.
1. There is an equal sharing of electrons between
atoms.

2. There is an unequal sharing of electrons between

atoms.

3. The electronegativity difference between atoms

ranges from 0.4 to 1.7.
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 Let’s Sum It Up!

● In a covalent bond, nonmetallic atoms share

valence electrons such that each atom has a stable
electron configuration.
● When two or more atoms share electrons, a
molecule is formed. A molecule may be diatomic
(consists of two atoms) or polyatomic (consists of
more than two atoms).
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 Let’s Sum It Up!

● The bonding pair or shared pair refers to the pair

of electrons being shared by two atoms. On the
other hand, the lone pair or unshared pair refers
to the outer-level electron pair not involved in the
bonding.

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 Let’s Sum It Up!

● The bond order is the number of electron pairs

being shared by a given pair of atoms.
○ The most common bond which consists of one
bonding pair of electrons is the single bond.
○ A double bond consists of two bonding electron
pairs.
○ A triple bond consists of three shared pairs of
electrons.
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 Let’s Sum It Up!

● Though the main idea in covalent bonding is

electron sharing, the electrons being shared
between atoms in this type of bond is not always
equal.
○ A nonpolar covalent bond involves the equal
sharing of electrons between atoms.
○ A polar covalent bond involves the unequal
sharing of electrons between atoms of different
elements. 46
 Let’s Sum It Up!

● A polyatomic ion is a group of covalently bonded

atoms that has an overall ionic charge.
● Covalent compounds are composed of nonmetals
that share electrons to obtain a stable electron
configuration.

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Challenge Yourself

Why do nonmetals tend to form

covalent bonds instead of ionic
bonds?

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 Photo Credits Bibliography
Buckley, Don. Interactive Science: Chemistry. United States of
Slide 1 and 3: Covalent Bonds by BruceBlaus is licensed America.: Pearson Education, 2011.
under Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International via
Handwerker, Mark J. Science Essentials. San Francisco, CA.:
Creative Commons. Jossey-Bass, 2005.

Hawe, Alan., Davies, Dan., McMahon, Kendra., Towler, Lee.,

Slide 38 and 39: Hydrochloric acid 02 by Bartolomeo1978 is Collier, Christopher., and Scott, Tonie. Science 5 - 11: A
Guide for Teachers, 2nd Edition. New York, NY: David
licensed under CC-BY SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons Fulton Publishers, 2009.
.
Petrucci, Ralph H. General Chemistry: Principles and Modern
Applications. Toronto, Ont.: Pearson Canada, 2011.
Slide 40: Hydrogen fluoride by Dorgan is licensed under
Silberberg, Martin S. Principles of General Chemistry, 3rd
CC-BY SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Edition. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc., 2013.

Timberlake, Karen C., Timberlake, William. Basic Chemistry,

4th Edition. United States of America.: Pearson
Education, 2014.
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