Covalent Bonding

You will learn about Covalent Bond in this video. Noble gases have complete outer electron shells, which make them stable. In order to get that kind of stability, atoms come together to achieve the noble gas configuration. This coming together and sharing of electron pairs leads to the formation of a chemical bond known as a covalent bond. Let us understand covalent bonds with the help of an example. Chlorine has seven electrons in its valence shell. To attain stability, i.e. to complete its octet, Chlorine requires one more electron in its outermost shell. So two chlorine atoms come together and share their electrons to form a molecule of chlorine. In this way, each atom will have eight electrons in its valence shell. As a single pair of electrons is shared between them, the bond is known as a single covalent bond. A single covalent bond is represented by a single dash between the atoms (Cl – Cl). Have a look at the oxygen atom. An oxygen atom has 6 electrons in its valence shell. To attain stability, i.e. to complete its octet, oxygen requires two more electron in its outermost shell. When two oxygen atoms come together, they each share 2 electrons to complete their octets. Since they share two pairs of electrons, there is a double bond between the oxygen atoms (O = O). Similarly, Nitrogen atoms share a triple covalent bond to form a molecule of Nitrogen.\r
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