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Single, Double and Triple Bonds

Pairs of electrons that are not involved in covalent bonding are called lone pairs.

Dot-and-cross diagrams can be used to show covalent bonding.


Carbon forms 4 bonds as it is in group 4 and needs to share 4 electrons to gain the electron configuration of neon. Nitrogen forms 3 bonds and oxygen forms two bonds as they are in group 5 and 6 respectively. Fluorine and hydrogen form 1 bond as only one additional electron is needed.

Period 3 elements have the 3d orbitals available so the third quantum shell can hold up to 18 electrons. More electrons are available for bonding with sulfur, phosphorus and chlorine. Phosphorus can form PF3 and PF5, sulfur can form SF2, SF4 and SF6 and chlorine and fluorine can form ClF, ClF3 and ClF5.
Oxygen (O=O) and carbon dioxide (O=C=O) contain double bonds. Nitrogen N≡N, carbon monoxide C≡O and the cyanide ion C≡N- contains triple bonds.

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Specification: OCR Chemistry A (H032), AS-level, 2.2.2 Bonding and structure. Topic: Electrons and Bonding.

Key terms in this lesson

Ion
A positively or negatively charged atom or group of atoms, formed by the loss or gain of electrons.
Electron shell
A main energy level occupied by electrons, given a principal quantum number n, with n = 1 closest to and lowest in energy relative to the nucleus.
Atomic orbital
A region in space where there is a high probability (90-95%) of finding an electron.
Covalent bond
A strong electrostatic attraction between a shared pair of electrons and the nuclei of the bonded atoms.
Period
A horizontal row of the periodic table, containing elements with the same number of electron shells.

More in Electrons and Bonding

All 7 lessons in Electrons and Bonding · All OCR AS-level Chemistry topics