Types of Chemical Bonds

Vocabulary flashcards covering chemical bonding concepts including ionic, single covalent, double covalent, polar covalent, nonpolar covalent, and hydrogen bonds.

Ionic bond

A chemical bond formed when an electron is transferred from one atom to another, creating full integer positive and negative charges (such as $+1$ and $-1$) that attract each other.

Covalent bond

A chemical bond in which atoms share a pair or pairs of electrons rather than transferring them completely.

Single covalent bond

A covalent bond where two atoms share one pair of electrons, such as between two hydrogen atoms.

Double covalent bond

A covalent bond where two atoms share two pairs of electrons, such as between two oxygen atoms in an $O_2$ molecule.

Nonpolar covalent bond

A subtype of covalent bond where electrons are shared equally between atoms, resulting in an even distribution of electrons and no overall electrostatic charge.

Polar covalent bond

A subtype of covalent bond involving the unequal sharing of electrons between atoms within a molecule, resulting in slight electrostatic charges on different atoms.

Hydrogen bond

An attraction between partial positive and partial negative charges of different molecules (such as between separate $H_2O$ molecules) without the sharing of electrons.

Dipole

A concept represented by a lowercase delta ($\text{delta}$) referring to the slight positive or slight negative electrostatic charges on atoms caused by unequal electron sharing.

Crystalline cuboidal structure of salt

The structural arrangement formed when positive sodium ions and negative chloride ions repeatedly form ionic bonds and attractions to pack tightly together.