Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Atoms are electrically balanced particles that consist in one positively charged centre
called the nucleus surrounded by a “cloud” of negatively charged particles called the
electrons, to exactly balance the nuclear charge.
Molecules are electrically balanced particles with more than one positive centre
(nucleus). Molecules are sets of bonded atoms that act as a unit.
The question arises: why should atoms form molecules or ions? The answer to this
question was proposed by Lewis with his “rule of eight” or “complete outer shell rule”.
This rule has a solid theoretical background that goes far beyond the high school syllabi
Nevertheless it is strongly suggested by the simple observation of the following facts.
This Lewis’ rule or complete outer shell rule, or “the rule of eight” gives a fairly good
explanation to the problem of chemical bond formation and with some modifications
can be generally applied. It states that
Atoms bond to each other giving, taking or sharing electrons in order to complete
their outer shells (to resemble the nearest noble gas’ structure).
In this Unit we will describe the different ways in which atoms bond to each other
Most metals have no more than two electrons in their outer shells. On the other hand
most non metals have five or more electrons in the highest level. To resemble the
nearest noble gas, metals give their outer shell’s electrons and non metals take them
1
Ionic bonding in sodium chloride
Sodium (2,8,1) has 1 electron more than a stable noble gas structure (2,8). If it gave
away that electron it would become more stable.
Chlorine (2,8,7) has 1 electron short of a stable noble gas structure (2,8,8). If it could
gain an electron from somewhere it too would become more stable.
The result is obvious. If a sodium atom gives an electron and a chlorine atom takes it,
both become more stable.
Sodium has lost an electron, so it no longer has equal numbers of electrons and
protons. Because it has one more proton than electron, it has a charge of 1+. If
electrons are lost from an atom, positive ions are formed. Positive ions are called
cations.
Chlorine has gained an electron, so it now has one more electron than proton. It
therefore has a charge of 1-. If electrons are gained by an atom, negative ions are
formed. A negative ion is called an anion. The sodium ions and chloride ions are held
together by the strong electrostatic attractions between the positive and negative
charges. This is known as an ionic bond. You need one sodium atom to provide the
extra electron for one chlorine atom, so they combine together 1to1. The formula is
therefore NaCl. As you can see, the formula of an ionic compound tells you the
different classes of atoms it is made of and the proportion in which they are combined.
The formula NaCl states that you can find one sodium cation per chlorine in this
substance.
When ions are formed they cluster together in a pattern that alternates
cations and anions. In these patterns every cation is surrounded by
negative particles and every anion by positive particles. There is no
particular cation associated to any particular anion. Ionic substances are
solid at room temperature and usually require very high temperatures to
melt (the forces among the particles are very strong).
2
Magnesium, in group II, has to get rid of two electrons to become stable. As chlorine
takes up just one, two chlorine atoms are needed for every magnesium atom. The
formula in that case will be MgCl2. The pattern of the particles in the solid will be
different but the essentials of the ionic bonding still hold.
In this case, none of the atoms will give electrons to the other! Instead they share one,
two or three pairs of electrons in order to achieve the complete shell. These “shared
pairs” are no longer located around one of the nuclei but around both and mainly in the
zone between both nuclei. A molecule is formed (see at the beginning of the chapter)
Chlorine
Hydrogen
Hydrogen atoms only need two electrons in their outer level to reach the
noble gas structure of helium. Once again, the covalent bond holds the
two atoms together because the pair of electrons is attracted to both
nuclei. The formula of hydrogen gas, formed by hydrogen molecules is H2
Hydrogen chloride
Now the sharing is between two different non metals. Once again
sharing takes place and a molecule is formed. The hydrogen has a
helium structure, and the chlorine an argon structure. The formula
for this substance is HCl.
3
Water
Molecules are not formed just by two joining two atoms. This is the
case for water, in which oxygen requires a share of two electrons to
complete its outer shell but hydrogen atoms can afford just one
electron to the share. Water is a tri-atomic molecule in which oxygen
forms two covalent bonds one with each of the hydrogen atoms
In this case none of the atoms will keep its outer shell’s electrons. What happens then if
the electrons cannot go away and “nobody needs them”? Atoms in this case pack tightly
forming a compact structure: their outer shells can be thought as bursting and collapsing
into a super-multi-atom outer shell, a sea of electrons where these particles move freely
as no atom will make any effort to keep them. These free electrons are the 'electronic
glue' holding the particles together.
The electrons can move freely within this region, and so each electron becomes
detached from its parent atom. The electrons are said to be delocalised. The metal is
held together by the strong forces of attraction between the positive nuclei and the
delocalised electrons.
If you are going to use this view, beware! Is a metal made up of atoms or ions? It is
made of atoms.
Each positive centre in the diagram represents all the rest of the atom apart from the
outer electron, but that electron hasn't been lost - it may no longer have an attachment to
a particular atom, but it's still there in the structure. Sodium metal for instance, is
written as Na and not as Na+.
4
2- Bronze is not an element but an alloy formed by copper and tin. (Both metals).
How does tin bond to copper atoms in the alloy?
3- Show in diagrams how magnesium (group II) bonds to fluorine (group (VII)
4- Write down the cations formed by the following atoms: Sodium Calcium
Magnesium Aluminium. (e.g.: Lithium = Li+)
5- Write down the simple anions formed by the following atoms: Chlorine
Oxygen Fluorine Sulphur. (e.g.: Nitrogen = N3- or N---)
6- Write down the electronic structure (or distribution or configuration)of all ions
in exercises 5 and 6
10- Our bodies are formed by atoms being carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen,
sulphur and phosphorus those that are found in higher proportions. Are we
essentially ionic or covalent? Justify your choice.
11- Two pots contain white powdered samples. One of them is glucose (C6H12O6)
and the other one mercury (I) chloride (Hg2Cl2) a powerful poison. Considering
the bonds between its elements, plan a simple experiment to decide which is
which. State:
a- what you would do
b- what you would see
c- how you would decide which is which.