Atoms to molecules - Chemical bonding (Part 1)

Atoms, ions, and molecules form lasting attractions that drive bonds. These bonds create chemical compounds with properties, such as salt (sodium chloride), through electrostatic forces and electron sharing or transfer.

Explore ionic bonds, where a metal donates an electron to a nonmetal, creating ions and an electrostatic attraction. See sodium transfer to chlorine to satisfy the octet rule.

Ionization energy of metals and electron affinity of non-metals determine the energy to form ionic bonds. The process is endothermic, driven by electrostatic attraction between ions at optimal distances.

Explore how ionic bonding forms a solid lattice of oppositely charged ions and why bond strength equals the energy to separate ions, affected by ion size, charge, and lattice arrangement.

Explore trends in ionic radii across the periodic table, including why radii increase down a group, decrease across a period, and how different methods yield varying values.

Examine the physical properties of ionic compounds, including high melting points, brittleness, and poor solid-state conductivity, and how hydration enables solubility and conductivity in molten or aqueous forms.

Explore how ionic bonding forms via electron transfer between sodium and chlorine and between magnesium and oxygen, yielding Na+, Cl−, Mg2+, and O2− ions in sodium chloride and magnesium oxide.

Explore covalent bonding by sharing electrons to achieve stability by filling the outer shell; distinguish nonpolar bonds with equal electronegativity and polar bonds with unequal electron density.

Learn the physical properties of covalent compounds: low melting points, poor water solubility, existence in all three phases, not conduct heat or electricity, and sigma and pi bond formation.

Explore bond length and bond strength in covalent bonds, including nuclei distance, the energy to break bonds, and the role of orbital overlap, with like-atom comparisons (C–C, N–N).

Form a sea of electrons that delocalize across metal atoms, creating metallic bonds and explaining metals' high melting points, conductivity, malleability, and other characteristic properties.

Explore how metallic bonding explains metals' high melting points, electrical and thermal conductivity, malleability and ductility, driven by delocalized electrons in a sea of positive metal ions.

Explore the physical properties of metals, including high melting points and delocalized electrons driving electrical and thermal conductivity, with malleability and ductility explained by metallic bonding.