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What kinds of bonds make up a triple bond?

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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. — covalent bond In polar covalent bonds, such as that between hydrogen and oxygen atoms, the electrons are not transferred from one atom to the other as they are in an ionic bond. Instead, some outer electrons merely spend more time in the vicinity of the other atom. The effect of this orbital distortion is to induce regional net charges that hold the atoms together, such as in water molecules.

A triple bond is a type of covalent bond in which two atoms share three pairs of electrons. This linkage is composed of two distinct types of bonds:12

One sigma bond: This bond is concentrated in the region directly along the line joining the two atomic nuclei.13
Two pi bonds: These bonds occupy regions of space parallel to the line determined by the two atoms.13

A pair of atoms can only be connected by pi bonds if a sigma bond is also present between them. Triple bonds are notably strong and are found in molecules such as nitrogen ( $N_{2}$ ) and acetylene ( $C_{2} H_{2}$ ).412