Structure and Bonding

Syllabus tag: KCSE | Chemistry | Form 2 | Topic 8 Structure and Bonding

Lesson objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• Explain why atoms combine and describe ionic bonding.
• Describe covalent and dative bonding and draw dot-and-cross diagrams.
• Describe metallic bonding and the giant structures of carbon.
• Relate physical properties to structure and bonding.

Summary

Atoms combine to achieve a stable full outer energy level. An ionic bond is the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions formed by transfer of electrons. A covalent bond is a shared pair of electrons. Metallic bonding is the attraction between positive ions and a sea of delocalised electrons.