covalent bond: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	covalency • nonpolar bond • electron-pair bond

Photos and Videos

Diagram showing the formation of a polar covalent bond in a water molecule, with two hydrogen atoms bonding to one oxygen atom to form H2O, illustrating shared electrons and chemical reaction.

Diagram comparing four types of chemical bonds in crystalline solids: ionic bonds with alternating positive and negative ions in a grid, covalent bonds with shared electrons between carbon atoms in a tetrahedral structure, metallic bonds with positive metal ions surrounded by a cloud of electrons, and van der Waals bonds showing weak dipole attraction between neutral molecules. Each bond type is labeled and illustrated with explanatory text.

Diagram showing four types of crystal bonding: ionic bonding with sodium and chlorine ions, covalent bonding with carbon atoms sharing electrons, metallic bonding with iron ions surrounded by free electrons, and molecular bonding with hydrogen molecules held by weak electrical attraction.

See molecular bonds at work as two hydrogen atoms join a sulfur atom to make hydrogen sulfide

How different solutions conduct electricity

The chemistry of water

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Topics

single bond octet rule delta bond multicentre bond multiple bond coordinate bond conjugated system pi bond sigma bond catenation metallic bond ionic bond hydrogen bonding

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Key People

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Gilbert N. Lewis

American chemist

Langmuir, Irving

Irving Langmuir

American chemist