Name _____________________________ Hour_______
Covalent Bonding Notes
Recall about ionic bonding:
 Ionic bonding occurs between a ____________________ and a ______________________.
In ionic bonds, electrons are _____________________. Atoms that are ionically bonded
together form _____________________ that has a _________________________ structure.
Covalent Bonding
Covalent bonds occur between two _________________________

Covalently bonded atoms _______________________ electrons because all atoms have high
______________________ and _______________________.
 Therefore, neither atom wants to_____________________________________________.
 The atoms share electrons to satisfy the octet rule which states
______________________________________________________________________________.
 When atoms are covalently bonded, they make ________________________________.
 Covalently bonded atoms do not have charges to balance, so there can be a variety of subscripts
(ex: NO, N2O2, N2O4, N2O5 are all molecules that exist.
Examples:
Diatomic elements
 The Heavenly-7: H, N, O, F, Cl, Br, I
 A molecule made up of TWO atoms of the SAME element. These 7 diatomic elements are
naturally found has molecules with two atoms.
Bond length
Exceptions to the octet:
 Hydrogen is stable forming one covalent bond, Boron is stable forming three covalent bonds
 P, S, Se, Cl, Br, and I can occasionally form more than 4 covalent bonds
Naming/writing formulas for binary molecular compounds
Naming
When naming, use the following prefixes:
1- mono
2- di
3- tri
4- tetra
5- penta
678910-
hexa
hepta
octa
nona
deca
Notes:
 Do not use the prefix mono on the FIRST element if there is only one atom
 Always use prefixes for the second element
 Name the second element using an –ide suffix (just like ionic bonding!)
Examples:
 N2O2
 SO2
Writing formulas
Use the subscripts to write the formulas but do NOT reduce the subscripts
Examples:
 Carbon monoixide
 Disulfur trioxide
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
NO
P2O5
CF4
SO2
CCl4
CO
SiO3
SO3
N2O4
PCl5
C2H6
BF3
HBr
CBr4
SeS2
SF6
Try a few on your own
17. Nitrogen monoxide
18. Diphoshporus pentaoxide
19. Carbon tetrafluoride
20. Carbon monoxide
21. Suflur hexafluoride
22. Dinitrogen tetraoxide
23. Phosphorus pentachloride
24. Sulfur trioxide
25. Carbon dioxide
26. Selenium dibromide
27. Iodine trioxide
28. Sufur hexafluoride
29. Tetracarbon octahydride
30. Dihydrogen dioxide
31. Nitrogen trihydride
32. Dinitrogen tetraphosphide