Chemical Bonding I: Lewis Theory

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to chemical bonding, including different types of bonds, structures, and theories associated with valence electrons and molecular interactions.

Valence Electrons

Electrons that are found in the outermost shell of an atom and play a key role in chemical bonding.

Ionic Bond

A type of chemical bond formed through the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions.

Covalent Bond

A bond formed when two or more atoms share one or more pairs of electrons.

Metallic Bond

A bond formed between metal atoms characterized by a 'sea of electrons' that are delocalized.

Lewis Structure

Diagrams that show the bonding between atoms and the arrangement of electrons in a molecule.

Polar Covalent Bond

A type of covalent bond where electrons are shared unequally between atoms, resulting in a molecule with a dipole moment.

Dipole Moment

A measure of the polarity of a chemical bond within a molecule.

Electronegativity

The tendency of an atom to attract electrons in a bond; quantifies how strongly atoms hold onto bonding electrons.

Lattice Energy

The energy released when ions are combined to make a compound; reflects the strength of the ionic bonds in a crystal lattice.

Formal Charge

A bookkeeping tool in chemistry to help determine the most stable Lewis structure for a molecule.

Resonance Structures

Multiple ways to represent a molecule where the actual structure is a hybrid of these forms.

Octet Rule

The principle that atoms tend to bond in such a way that they each have eight electrons in their valence shell.

Free Radicals

Molecules with unpaired electrons that are often highly reactive.

Bond Energy

The amount of energy required to break one mole of a covalent bond in a gaseous species.

Bond Length

The distance between the nuclei of two bonded atoms.