Covalent Bonds Lecture Notes

A set of flashcards covering key concepts related to covalent bonds and molecular geometry.

Covalent bond

A type of bond formed when two nonmetals are joined together.

Ionic bond

A type of bond formed when atoms gain, lose, or transfer electrons.

Cation

A charged atom that resulted from losing valence electrons; carries a positive charge.

Anion

A charged atom that resulted from gaining valence electrons; carries a negative charge.

Valence shell

The outermost shell of an atom that contains valence electrons.

Stable octet

A configuration in which an atom has eight electrons in its valence shell.

Electronegativity (EN)

Measures the attraction of an atom for another atom's valence electrons.

Double covalent bond

A chemical bond where two pairs of electrons are shared between two atoms.

Triple covalent bond

A chemical bond where three pairs of electrons are shared between two atoms.

VSPER

Valence Shell Pair Electron Repulsion; helps to determine the shape of a molecule.

Organic molecule

A molecule that must contain at least C-H bonds; often has C-C bonds as a backbone.

Carbon atom

An atom that has 4 valence electrons, allowing it to form four covalent bonds.

Nonpolar covalent bond

A type of covalent bond formed when electrons are shared equally between two atoms due to a small or zero electronegativity difference.

Dipole moment (\mu)

A measure of the polarity of a chemical bond or molecule, calculated as the product of the magnitude of the charges (q) and the distance (r) between them (\vec{\mu} = q \times \vec{r}).

Octet Rule

States that atoms tend to lose, gain, or share electrons until they are surrounded by eight valence electrons.

Polar covalent bond

A type of covalent bond formed when electrons are shared unequally between two atoms due to a significant difference in electronegativity.

Lone pair

A pair of valence electrons that are not shared with another atom, belonging solely to one atom.

Formal charge

The charge assigned to an atom in a molecule, assuming that electrons in all chemical bonds are shared equally between atoms, calculated as: FC = V - N - \frac{B}{2} where V is valence electrons, N is non-bonding electrons, and B is bonding electrons.

Intermolecular Forces (IMF)

Forces of attraction or repulsion that occur between neighboring molecules, influencing physical properties like boiling point and melting point.