Bonding Basics - Covalent Bonds
Name _______________________
Complete the chart for each element.
Element
# of Protons
# of Electrons
# of Valence Electrons
# of Electrons needed
to Fill Outer Shell
# of Protons
# of Electrons
# of Valence Electrons
# of Electrons to Fill
Carbon
Chlorine
Hydrogen
Phosphorus
Oxygen
Sulfur
Nitrogen
Draw dot diagrams to show how these diatomic molecules form
(1) Hydrogen + Hydrogen
(2) Hydrogen + Oxygen
T. Trimpe 2002
(3) Chlorine + Chlorine
(4) Oxygen + Oxygen
(5) Carbon + Oxygen
(6) Carbon + Hydrogen
T. Trimpe 2002
Name _______________________________ Date ___________ Period ___________
Covalent Bonding Worksheet
Covalent bonding occurs when two or more NON_METALS share electrons, attempting
to attain a stable octet (8 outer electrons)in their outer shell for at least part of the time.
Draw a Lewis dot diagram for each element listed. Circle the unpaired electrons that will
be shared between the elements.
1.) H2 hydrogen is diatomic
H + H
H
H
F
F
H-H
Single Bond
O=O
Double Bond
2.) F2 fluorine is diatomic
F + F
3.) O2 oxygen is diatomic
O+ O
4.) N2 nitrogen is diatomic. Is this a triple bond?
N + N
5.) BF3
you need 3 fluorine atoms here
B + F
6.) Ammonia NH3
hint: how many hydrogen atoms are needed?
N + H
7.) Carbon dioxide CO2
O
+
C
+
O
8.) Methane CH4 careful here 4 hydrogen atoms needed
C+ H
9.) Dihydrogen monoxide: the most dangerous substance on the planet. It has killed
more people than any other substance known to mankind!!
H + O + H
10.) SO2 hint: one pair of electrons from sulfur must be slit up for this one to work.
O + S + O
Types of Chemical Bonds
Classify the following compounds as ionic (a metal + a nonmetal), covalent (a nonmetal
+ a nonmetal) or both (a compound containing a metal and a complex polyatomic ion)
In the other column list the number of atoms in each compound.
Type of Bond (Ionic, covalent,
both – complex ions)
CaCl2
CO2
H2O
Mg3(PO4)2
K2O
NaF
Al2 (CO3)3
CH4
SO3
LiBr
Ca3(PO4)2
(NH4)2CO3
C12H22O11
H2O2
C2H5OH
List each atom and how many
are in the compound. Follow the
example below.
Ca – 1, Cl - 2
Naming Covalent Compounds
Covalent compounds are much easier to name than ionic compounds. Here's how you do
it:
All covalent compounds have two word names. The first word typically corresponds to
the first element in the formula and the second corresponds to the second element in the
formula except that "-ide" is substituted for the end. As a result, HF is named "hydrogen
fluoride", because hydrogen is the first element and fluorine is the second element.
If there is more than one atom of an element in a molecule, we need to add prefixes to
these words to tell us how many are present. Here are the prefixes you'll need to
remember:
Number of atoms
Prefix
1
mono- (use only for oxygen)
2
di-
3
tri-
4
tetra-
5
penta-
6
hexa-
7
hepta-
8
octa-
Let's see how this works:
Examples:
P2O5 - this is named diphosphorus pentoxide, because there are two phosphorus atoms
and five oxygen atoms.
CO - this is carbon monoxide (you need the "mono-" because there's only one oxygen
atom).
CF4 - this is carbon tetrafluoride, because there's one carbon atom and four fluorine
atoms.
Some important exceptions to this naming scheme occur because the compounds were
originally named before the methodical naming scheme above became
widespread. Nowadays, these names are so common that they're officially recognized:

H2O is "water"

NH3 is "ammonia"

CH4 is "methane"
There are lots of other names for covalent compounds that are commonly used,
particularly for organic molecules and acids.
Name: _____________________________,__________________
Worksheet # 8
Write the formulas for the following covalent compounds:
1) antimony tribromide __________________________________
2) hexaboron silicide __________________________________
3) chlorine dioxide __________________________________
4) hydrogen iodide __________________________________
5) iodine pentafluoride __________________________________
6) dinitrogen trioxide __________________________________
7) ammonia __________________________________
8) phosphorus triiodide __________________________________
Write the names for the following covalent compounds:
9) P4O5__________________________________
10) O2 __________________________________
11) SeF6 __________________________________
12) Si2Br6 __________________________________
13) SCl4 __________________________________
14) CH4 __________________________________
15) B2C __________________________________
16) NF3 __________________________________
17) H2O _________________________________________
18) PCl5 _________________________________________
19) NO __________________________________________
20) PI3 _________________________________________