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BBCGCSEBitesizeCovalentcompounds
Science
Covalentcompounds
Acovalentbondisformedbetweennonmetalatoms,whichcombine
togetherbysharingelectrons.Covalentcompoundshavenofreeelectrons
andnoionssotheydon'tconductelectricity.
Covalentbonds
Nonmetalscombinetogetherbysharingelectrons.Thesharedpairofelectrons
holdsthetwoatomstogether.It'scalledacovalentbond.Thegroupofatoms
bondedtogetherinthiswayiscalledamolecule.
Thetypesandnumbersofatomsinamoleculeareshowninitsformula.
Examplesofcovalentmolecules
Name
Structure Model
Hydrogen(H2)
Water(H2O)
Ammonia(NH3)
Methane(CH4)
Covalentcompoundsareusuallygasesorliquidswithlowmeltingpointsor
boilingpointsandtheydon'tconductelectricity.
Example:
Carbondioxideisagaswithaboilingpointof44C.Itdoesn'tconductelectricity.
Waterisaliquidwithameltingpointof0C.Itdoesn'tconductelectricity.
Dotandcrossmodels
Dotandcrossmodelsshowhowapairofelectronsformsacovalentbond.
Noticethatinthediagramsinthetablebelow,onlytheelectronsintheoutershell
ofeachatomareshown.
Examplesofdotandcrossmodels
Molecule
Dotandcrossmodel
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Molecule
BBCGCSEBitesizeCovalentcompounds
Dotandcrossmodel
Hydrogen(H2)
Chlorine(Cl2)
Methane(CH4)
Water(H2O)
Carbondioxide(CO2)
Oxygen(O2)
Hydrogenchloride(HCI)
Exampleofcovalentbondingcarbondioxide
Lowmeltingandboilingpoints
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Thecovalentbondsbindingtheatomstogetherareverystrongbutthereareonly
veryweakforcesholdingthemoleculestoeachother
(theintermolecularforces).Therefore,onlyalowtemperatureisneeded
toseparatethemoleculeswhentheyaremeltedorboiled.
Nonconductors
Covalentcompoundshavenofreeelectronsandnoionssotheydonotconduct
electricity.
Simplemolecularcompounds
Covalentbonds[covalentbond:Acovalentbondbetweenatomsformswhen
atomsshareelectronstoachieveafulloutershellofelectrons.]formbetween
nonmetalatoms.Eachbondconsistsofasharedpairofelectrons[electron:An
electronisaverysmallnegativelychargedparticlefoundinanatominthespace
surroundingthenucleus.],andisverystrong.Covalentlybondedsubstancesfall
intotwomaintypes:
1.Simplemolecules[molecule:Amoleculeisacollectionoftwoormore
atomsheldtogetherbychemicalbonds.Itisthesmallestpartofa
substancethatdisplaysthepropertiesofthesubstance.]
2.Giantcovalentstructures
Simplemolecules
Thesecontainonlyafewatomsheldtogetherby
strongcovalentbonds.Anexampleiscarbondioxide
(CO2),themoleculesofwhichcontain
oneatom[atom:Allelementsaremadeofatoms.An
Amoleculeofcarbon
atomconsistsofanucleuscontainingprotonsand
neutrons,surroundedbyelectrons.]ofcarbonbonded dioxide
withtwoatomsofoxygen.
Propertiesofsimplemolecularsubstances
LowmeltingandboilingpointsThisisbecausetheweak
intermolecularforcesbreakdowneasily.
NonconductiveSubstanceswithasimplemolecularstructuredo
notconductconduct:Toallowelectricity,heatorotherenergyformsto
passthrough.electricity.Thisisbecausetheydonothaveanyfree
electronsoranoverallelectriccharge.
Hydrogen,ammonia,methaneandwaterarealsosimplemoleculeswithcovalent
bonds.Allhaveverystrongbondsbetweentheatoms,butmuchweaker
forcesholdingthemoleculestogether.Whenoneofthesesubstancesmeltsor
boils,itistheseweak'intermolecularforces'thatbreak,notthestrongcovalent
bonds.Simplemolecularsubstancesaregases,liquidsorsolidswithlowmelting
andboilingpoints.
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Theanimationshowshowtheweakintermolecularforcesbetweenwater
moleculesbreakdownduringboilingormelting:
Giantmolecularcompounds
Giantcovalentstructurescontainalotofnonmetalatoms,eachjoinedto
adjacentatomsbycovalentbonds[covalentbond:Acovalentbondbetween
atomsformswhenatomsshareelectronstoachieveafulloutershellof
electrons.].Theatomsareusuallyarrangedintogiantregularlattices[lattice:A
latticeisaregulargridlikearrangementofatomsinamaterial.]extremely
strongstructuresbecauseofthemanybondsinvolved.Thegraphicshowsthe
molecularstructureofdiamondandgraphite:twoallotropesallotrope:Allotropes
arestructurallydifferentformsofanelement.Theydifferinthewaytheatoms
bondwitheachotherandarrangethemselvesintoastructure.Becauseoftheir
differentstructures,allotropeshavedifferentphysicalandchemicalproperties.of
carbon,andofsilica(silicondioxide).
Fromlefttorightgraphite,diamond,silica
Propertiesofgiantcovalentstructures
VeryhighmeltingpointsSubstanceswithgiantcovalentstructures
haveveryhighmeltingpoints,becausealotofstrongcovalentbonds
mustbebroken.Graphite,forexample,hasameltingpointofmorethan
3,600C.
VariableconductivityDiamonddoesnotconductconduct:Toallow
electricity,heatorotherenergyformstopassthrough.electricity.Graphite
containsfreeelectrons[electron:Anelectronisaverysmallnegatively
chargedparticlefoundinanatominthespacesurroundingthenucleus.],
soitdoesconductelectricity.Siliconissemiconductivethatis,midway
betweennonconductiveandconductive.
Graphite
Graphiteisaformofcarboninwhichthecarbonatomsformlayers.Theselayers
canslideovereachother,sographiteismuchsofterthandiamond.Itisusedin
pencils,andasalubricantlubricant:Asubstanceusedtoreducethefriction
betweentwosolidsurfaces..Eachcarbonatominalayerisjoinedtoonlythree
othercarbonatoms.Graphiteconductselectricity.
Diamond
Diamondisaformofcarboninwhicheachcarbonatomisjoinedtofourother
carbonatoms,formingagiantcovalentstructure.Asaresult,diamondisvery
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hardandhasahighmeltingpoint.Itdoesnotconductelectricity.
Silica
Silica,whichisfoundinsand,hasasimilarstructuretodiamond.Itisalsohard
andhasahighmeltingpoint,butcontainssiliconandoxygenatoms,insteadof
carbonatoms.
Thefactthatitisasemiconductormakesitimmenselyusefulintheelectronics
industry:mosttransistorsaremadeofsilica.
Buckminsterfullerene
Buckminsterfullereneisyetanotherallotropeofcarbon.Itis
actuallynotagiantcovalentstructure,butagiantmoleculein
whichthecarbonatomsformpentagonsandhexagonsina
similarwaytoaleatherfootball.Itisusedinlubricants.
Structureofa
buckminsterfullerene
moleculealarge
ballof60atoms
NowtryaTestBite.
Readonifyou'retakingthehigherpaper.
UsesofcarboncompoundsHighertier
Theallotropesofcarbon
Threeforms,or'allotropes',ofpurecarbonarediamond,graphiteand
buckminsterfullerene(or'buckyballs').Inallthreeallotropes,thecarbonatoms
arejoinedbystrongcovalentbondsbutinsuchdifferentarrangementsthatthe
propertiesoftheallotropesareverydifferent.
Diamond
Adiamondisonegiantmoleculeofcarbonatoms.
Diamondsarecolourlessandtransparent.Theysparkleandreflectlight,whichis
whytheyaredescribedaslustrous.Thesepropertiesmakethemdesirablein
itemsofjewellery.
Diamondisextremelyhardandhasahighmeltingpoint.
Forthisreasonitisveryusefulincuttingtools.Thecutting
edgesofdiscsusedtocutbricksandconcretearetippedwith
diamonds.Heavydutydrillbits,suchasthoseusedintheoil
explorationindustrytodrillthroughrocks,aremadewith
diamondssothattheystaysharpforlonger.
Diamondisinsolubleinwater.Itdoesnotconductelectricity.
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Diamond
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Everyatominadiamondisbondedtoitsneighboursbyfourstrongcovalent
bondsleavingnofreeelectronsandnoions.Thisexplainswhydiamonddoes
notconductelectricity.Thebondingalsoexplainsthehardnessofdiamondand
itshighmeltingpoint.Significantquantitiesofenergywouldbeneededto
separateatomssostronglybondedtogether.
Graphite
Graphiteisformedfromcarbonatomsinlayers.
Graphiteisblack,shinyandopaque.Itisnottransparent.It's
alsoaveryslipperymaterial.It'susedinpencil
leadsbecauseitslipseasilyoffthepencilontothepaperand
leavesablackmark.Itisacomponentofmanylubricants,
forexamplebicyclechainoil.Graphiteisinsolubleinwater.It
hasahighmeltingpointandisagoodconductorofelectricity,
whichmakesitasuitablematerialfortheelectrodesneeded Graphite
inelectrolysis.
Eachcarbonatomisbondedintoitslayerwiththreestrongcovalentbonds.This
leaveseachatomwithaspareelectron,whichtogetherformadelocalised'sea'
ofelectronslooselybondingthelayerstogether.Thesedelocalisedelectronscan
allmovealongtogethermakinggraphiteagoodelectricalconductor.Because
thelayersareonlyweaklyheldtogethertheycaneasilyslipoveroneanother.
Thisexplainswhygraphiteissoslippery.Meltinggraphiteisnoteasy,though.It
takesconsiderableenergytobreakthestrongcovalentbondsandseparatethe
carbonatoms.
Buckminsterfullerene
Buckminsterfullereneisonetypeoffullerene.Fullerenesare
madefromcarbonatomsjoinedtogethertomakeballs,'cages'
ortubesofcarbon.ThemoleculesofBuckminsterfullereneare
sphericalandarealsoknownas'buckyballs'formulaC60.
Buckminsterfullereneisablacksolidalthoughitiscolouredin
certainsolutionsegdeepredwheninpetrol.
Structureofa
buckminsterfullerene
Thetubefullerenesarecallednanotubeswhichareverystrong
moleculealarge
andareconductorsofelectricity.Theirunusualelectrical
ballof60atoms
propertiesmeanthatnanotubesareusedassemiconductorsin
electroniccircuits.Theirstrengthmakesthemusefulin
reinforcingstructureswhereexceptionallightnessandstrengthareneededfor
example,theframeofatennisracket.Theyarealsousedasaplatformfor
industrialcatalysts.
NowtryaTestBitehighertier.
BacktoRevisionBite
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