2/6/2018 Lecture 10 (Types of Chemical Bonds)

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Peter's Index Physics Home Lecture 9 Course Index Lecture 11

Physics for Civil Engineering

This is an introduction to Electricity, Strength of Materials and Waves.

Lecture 10 (Types of Chemical Bonds)

In this lecture the following are introduced:

•The Classification of Chemical Bonds
•The Periodic Table with Electron Configurations
•Ionic Bonds
•Covalent Bonds
•Metallic Bonds
•Electric Dipoles
•Hydrogen Bonds
•Van der Waals Bonds

The Classification of Chemical Bonds

There are two major bond classifications, each with identifiable sub-groups:

The Periodic Table gives a guide to the type of primary bond that will form.

The Periodic Table with Electron Configurations

For a background on the periodic table, see Western Oregon

University

Atoms have their electrons confined in potential energy wells

around them, but not at any energy, there are only a few
discrete energy levels allowed. These levels are like steps on
a ladder where your feet cannot be supported at any height,

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but only on the rungs. The electrons then cannot be at

intermediate energies, they will fall down to the next "rung"
on the energy ladder, grouping in three dimensional "shells".

The periodic table arises because only certain numbers of

electrons are allowed in each shell, as also illustrated in the
diagram. Electrons are held at upper levels because they
cannot all fall down to the bottom.

The valence electrons are in the outer (highest) energy levels

and are the main determiners of chemical activity and
bonding. "Valence" comes from a Latin word meaning
"power" and used for the "combining power" of an atom, i.e.
how many neighbouring atoms it can bond with.

As the outer shells determine most of the S Filling 2 S levels (l=0) at the outer level
chemical properties, the Periodic Table below
shows only the electron numbers in the two P Filling 6 P levels (l=1) at the outer level
outer shells, the colours indicate how shells are D Filling 10 D levels (l=2) at a level deeper
filled.
F Filling 14 F levels (l=3) two levels deeper

In the outermost shell the general pattern is an increase in electron numbers from 1 to 8 across the table.
These form "families" of elements with similar chemical properties. It is a little like music with "octaves". "Family
members" are down the table in higher octaves.

The families are designated with Roman numerals and further divided into A and B.
In light blue, there is IA, IIA, then in green there is IIIA, IVA, VA, VIA, VIIA and 0. Family 0 has one light blue
element at the top.
B families are in yellow and start with IIIB, IVB, VB, VIB, VIIB, VIIIB, then IB and IIB.

IA IIA IIIB IVB VB VIB VIIB {- VIIIB -} IB IIB IIIA IVA VA VIA VIIA 0

H He
1 1 2

Li Be B C N O F Ne
2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8

Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar
3 .8.1 .8.2 .8.3 .8.4 .8.5 .8.6 .8.7 .8.8

K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
4 .8.1 .8.2 .9.2 .10.2 .11.2 .13.1 .13.2 .14.2 .15.2 .16.2 .18.1 .18.2 .18.3 .18.4 .18.5 .18.6 .18.7 .18.8

Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe
5 .8.1 .8.2 .9.2 .10.2 .12.1 .13.1 .14.1 .15.1 .16.1 .18 .18.1 .18.2 .18.3 .18.4 .18.5 .18.6 .18.7 .18.8

Cs Ba La* Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
6 .8.1 .8.2 .9.2 .10.2 .11.2 .12.2 .13.2 .14.2 .17 .17.1 .18.1 .18.2 .18.3 .18.4 .18.5 .18.6 .18.7 .18.8

Fr Ra Ac** Rf Ha Sg Ns Hs Mt Uun Uuu Uub Uut Uuq Uup Uuh Uus Uuo
7 .8.1 .8.2 .9.2

Ce* Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
.8.2 .8.2 .8.2 .8.2 .8.2 .8.2 .9.2 .8.2 .8.2 .8.2 .8.2 .8.2 .8.2 .9.2

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2/6/2018 Lecture 10 (Types of Chemical Bonds)

Th** Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
.10.2 .9.2 .9.2 .9.2 .9.2 .9.2 .9.2

The inert gases of Group 0, namely Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon, and Radon, each have 8 valence
electrons and form few chemical compounds. (Helium is an exception with only 2 outer electrons). This suggests
that 8 valence electrons form a stable electronic structure where an atom tends not to share electrons with other
atoms.

An element will be chemically reactive if it can get to the stable electronic configuration of an inert gas, either
• by losing one or two electrons to another atom, or
• by gaining one or two electrons from another atom (at most three), or
• by sharing three or more electrons.

Three Primary Bonds

The three types of primary bonding reflect these ways in which atoms can group together by gaining or losing or
sharing electrons, so they can get inert gas electron configurations.

(P1) Ionic Bonds

Atoms near the left or right sides of the periodic table can loose or gain 1 (or 2) electrons to form charged "ions".
For example, a Sodium atom (row 3, column IA) can loose one electron to have 8 valence electrons and become
a positively charged "cation". A Chlorine atom (row 3, column VIIA) can gain one electron to have 8 valence
electrons and become a negatively charged "anion". These two ions then will be attracted to each other by non-
directional electrostatic force and form an ionic (or electrovalent) bond.

Note: cations are + like the t, anions are - like the i.

When large numbers of such ion pairs come

together an ionic solid is formed. Common salt
(NaCl) is an ionic solid which has the cubic
structure shown on the right.

In ionic solids:
• there is a charge requirement for stacking atoms. Each ion must have nearest neighbours of opposite charge.
(For the cubic array above, each ion has six nearest neighbours of opposite charge.)
• there are no directional requirements, so stacking depends on meeting charge and size requirements and the
bonding can be at any angle.
• there are long range requirements because they attract or repel other ions beyond the nearest and next-
nearest neighbours.

(P2) Covalent bonds

Atoms at the centre of the periodic table (group IVA) have 4 valence electrons. It is difficult to completely lose or
gain this many electrons so by compromise they end up sharing electrons.

In the diagram on the right, the central atom is missing

the 4 electrons to form an inert gas configuration, but
can borrow them for a while from like-minded neighbours
to form an electron "cloud" between the two atoms. The

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atomic cores are then attracted to the negative electron

cloud between them, forming a covalent bond. The
repulsion between electron "clouds" maximises the
angles between the bonds.

In 3-dimensions, four equally spaced bonds form a

tetrahedral structure. In the diagram, the blue atom is at
the centre of the tetrahedron forming four bonds with
green atoms at the tetrahedral vertices. A sloping light
green triangular face is highlighted between two base
atoms and the top atom.

When large numbers of such atoms come together, all

sharing some of their electrons to fill outer shells, a
covalent solid is formed.

A notable example of a covalent solid is diamond, which

is a three-dimensional carbon network built up from
tetrahedral units.

In covalent bonding:
• there are no charge requirements. Each atom does not have to have nearest neighbours of opposite charge.
• there are strong directional requirements which determine structural geometries.
• there are no long range requirements. Bonds are only between nearest-neighbour atoms sharing electrons.

(P3) Metallic Bonds

A lot of metals fall in the yellow area of the

periodic table shown. They share electrons in a
different way to covalent bonding.

The diagram (top right) shows a single atom

potential well with all its electrons bound to it.

Under it (middle right), is the example of five

metal atoms brought closely together so that
their potential wells overlap.

At the bottom right, a combined potential well

is formed as the overlapping potentials interact
and are added together. The outermost
electron levels now combine to form levels that
extend throughout the whole solid.

In thes outer combined levels a few of the electrons are shared by all the atoms of the solid. Most of the
electrons will still be confined to their own atoms as they are further down the wells. The outer electrons are

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"nearly free" in that they are free from individual atoms but not free to leave the solid as they still have negative
potential energy.

Metallic bonding occurs between the positive atom cores and the "nearly free" electrons.
In metallic bonding:
• there are no charge requirements,
• there are no directional requirements, and
• there are long range effects.

This means that in metallic bonding the atoms pack

together as closely as possible.
Metallic solids occur when large numbers of atoms bond
together in close-packed structures.
They can be modelled as ping-pong balls glued together
as shown in the diagram.

Secondary Bonds

Secondary or weak bonds are formed when there is effectively a partial and/or momentary charge. They are
secondary in terms of strength but not necessarily in terms of importance, as life is only made possible because
of them.

Electric Dipoles

To understand these forces the idea of dipoles is

needed. An electric dipole is basically a pair of equal
positive and negative charges separated by a small
distance.

These dipoles will arise, for example, in a molecule,

where atoms share an electron, but the electron spends
more time with one atom, because it is bigger, and less
time with the smaller atom.

The effective charge separation may be only a fraction

(perhaps a tenth) of the electron's charge.

Bonding between dipoles happens when the positive

end of one dipole is attracted to the negative end of
another.

Since the effective charges are small compared with

those involved in primary bonding, secondary bonding
is about one tenth of primary bond strengths.

Hydrogen Bonding

Hydrogen bonding is the most common type of bonding between permanent dipoles.

The situation that leads to Hydrogen bonding arises with a normal bond between a Hydrogen atom and a
neighbour. Since any other atom will bind the electron from the Hydrogen atom more tightly, the electron will

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spend more time with the other atom. This creates a permament dipole (a partially exposed proton) that can
interact with other dipoles nearby.

The water molecule (H2O) is the classic situation, where the

Oxygen molecule binds electrons from both Hydrogen atoms more
tightly than Hydrogen can. Hydrogen bonding between water
molecules makes ice less dense than water so, in winter, rivers
freeze down from the top and not up from the bottom, enabling life
to survive. Hydrogen bonding is also one of the major forces
responsible for the attraction between chains in polymers.

Van der Waals Bonds

The dipoles involved in Van der Waals bonding come from fluctuations in the symmetry of the electron
distribution surrounding the nucleus of an atom. Momentary electric dipoles are set up and give rise to weak,
very short-range, non-directional attractive forces between molecules or atoms. Permanent dipoles can also be
involved, e.g. by inducing other temporary dipoles.

Summarising:

The Periodic Table gives an indication of how electrons will be shared.

Ionic bonds tend to form between elements at the edges.
Covalent bonds tend to form between elements in the middle.
Metallic bonds have overlapping potentials releasing some electrons to form a "glue".
Secondary bonds are the result of electric dipole interaction.
Hydrogen bonds form with permament dipoles.
Van der Waals bonds generally form from fluctuating dipoles.

Ionic Covalent Metallic Van der Waals Hydrogen

strong strong strong weak weak
n=1, m=9 n=6, m=12 n=6, m=12 n=2

non-directional directional non-directional non-directional non-directional

long range short range long range short range short range
charge stacking no charge stacking no charge stacking dipole orientation dipole orientation
requirements requirements requirements

Ionic crystals tend to be brittle because of the charge restriction.

Covalent crystals tend to be brittle because of the directional restriction.
Metals tend to be plastic because there are no directional or charge restrictions.

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