Chemical Bonding
Visualize ionic and covalent bonding through dot-and-cross diagrams
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Ionic bond examples
Covalent bond examples
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Click an example on the left to explore its bonding.
Octet rule and bonding ideas
Octet and duplet structures
Atoms are most stable when their outermost electron shell is full. Most atoms tend to achieve 8 outermost shell electrons, while hydrogen is stable with 2 electrons in its first shell.
Ionic bond
An ionic bond forms when electrons are transferred. Metal atoms lose electrons to become positive ions, non-metal atoms gain electrons to become negative ions, and the oppositely charged ions attract each other via strong electrostatic attraction.
Covalent bond and molecules
A covalent bond forms when atoms share one or more pairs of electrons so that each atom can reach a stable outermost electron shell. Neutral particles joined by covalent bonds are molecules.