Chemistry pt. 8: Covalent bonds

 Instead of stealing atoms, let's share them.

Let's take an Oxygen atom, it has 6 valence elections. And let's take another Oxygen atom with 6 valence elections. Now these atoms would love to gain or share an electron to make themselves stable. Now sharing these elections causes these Oxygen atoms to stick to each other.
Also known as a Covalent bond, which is a type of bond that is a fusion of two atoms. And it can make atoms more stable. 

Now what about water, how does Hydrogen bond with Oxygen, once again Oxygen has 6 valence electrons. But Hydrogen has 1 valence electron, water requires two Hydrogen and one Oxygen or H2O. 
Now to explain this more easily, the Oxygen atom in this case has 6 valence electrons and the Oxygen atom shares two of its valence electrons, and both of the Hydrogen atoms share their single valence electrons. Now the Hydrogen atoms bond with the two shared valence electrons.

Molecules are 2 or more atoms that are Covalently bonded together, some molecules that are covalently bonded are:
O2 or Molecular Oxygen, H2O or Water, CO2 or Carbon Dioxide, CH4 or Methane, and NH3 or Ammonia.

But there are differences between elements as you well know, for example.
A canister of O2 and a water bottle of H2O is very different.

Diatomic elements are elements that cannot be found in nature and are. Covalently bonded together, like O2, other diatomic elements are: H2, N2, F2, Ci2, I2 and Br2.
These diatomic elements are considered Molecules but not compounds. As compounds are two different elements bonded together.

Certain Covalent bonds are done through a network, one example of a covalently bonded element is Silica or SiO2, which is mainly found in sand, a Silica covalent bond are made with Silicon and Oxygen atoms.
For the formula of Silica, there are two Oxygen and one Silicon atom.

A salt is an atom that is both Ionic and Anionicly bonded together, like Sodium Chloride, or commonly known as table salt, 
as a Na+ ion will attract all Cl- and Cl- ions around it.

As stated above a compound is two different elements bonded together, these can either be bonded ionically or covalently, H20 or water is a covalent compound because it has two different elements bonded together, NaCl is a ionically bonded compound. All salts are compounds, but note that not all substances are compounds. For example, Helium is made of He atoms, and is not a molecule or a compound, and Oxygen gas, O2 is comprised of Oxygen atoms, but not a compound, or a molecule.