AP BIO- Chemistry of Life

What determines if a covalent bond is polar or non-polar?

Polar: ELectronegativity difference > 0.4 (or ionic if the difference is very large, generally above 1.8).

Non-Polar: Electronegativity difference < 0.4, The electrons are shared relatively equally, and there is no significant charge separation.

Ionic Bond

Valence electrons get completely transferred from one atom to another

What bond has fairly weak attractions?

Ionic bonds

Octet rule

an atom will lose, gain, or share electrons in order to achieve a stable configuration of 8 electrons in its outermost shell

Valence Electrons

Electrons in outermost shell; responsible for chemical reactivity of an atom