Chemistry Ionic bonding
● Giant ionic structure : it consists of regular, three-dimensional array of cations and
anions
● Forces / ionic bonding: strong electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions
hardness Ionic compounds are hard because strong ionic bonds
between ions restrict relative motion of ions. Ions are
difficult to move and change position.
High melting & boiling point The oppositely charged ions are held together by strong
ionic bonds and a lot of heat is needed to break the
strong ionic bonds to separate ions.
crystalline Ions in the lattice are arranged in regular arrays
brittle Any small distortion of a crystal will bring ions with the
same charge alongside each other. Like charges repel
and the crystal spilt itself
Soluble in aqueous solvents //
Insoluble in non-aqueous /
organic solvents
X conduct electricity in solid In solid state, ions are not mobile.
state
Conduct electricity in molten / Ions become mobile when the compound is molten or
liquid state dissolved in water
Chemistry covalent bonding
● Giant covalent structure: it consists of a regular, three-dimensional array of non-metal
atoms
● Covalent bond’s force: the strong electrostatic attraction between the bond pair
electrons and the nuclei of the two bonded atoms
Very high melting and boiling point Atoms are held together by strong covalent
bonds throughout the giant structure. A lot of
heat & energy is needed to break these
strong covalent bonds between atoms
Insoluble in any solvents, including water The atoms are held by strong covalent bonds
and will not be pulled apart by the solvent
molecules
Does not conduct electricity (except All the outermost shell electrons of the atoms
graphite) are used to form covalent bonds and there
are no delocalized electrons
Very hard (except graphite) Atoms are held together by strong covalent
bonds throughout the giant structure. A large
force is needed to separate the atoms
Silicon dioxide (giant covalent structure)
● Giant covalent structure: it consists of a regular, three-dimensional array of Si atoms
and O atoms
● Covalent bond’s force: the strong electrostatic attraction between the bond pair
electrons and the nuclei of the two bonded atoms
Diamond (giant covalent structure)
● Structure: each C atom is covalently bonded to 4 other C atoms in a tetrahedral manner
forming a three-dimensional giant structure
● Covalent bond’s force: the strong electrostatic attraction between the bond pair
electrons and the nuclei of the two bonded atoms
Very high melting and boiling point C atoms are held together by strong covalent
bonds throughout the giant structures. A lot of
heat is needed to break these strong bonds
between the C atoms
Insoluble in any solvents, including water The atoms are held by strong covalent bonds
and will not be pulled apart by the solvent
molecules
Does not conduct electricity All the outermost shell electrons of the atoms
are used to form covalent bonds and there
are no delocalized electrons
Very hard Atoms are held together by strong covalent
bonds throughout the giant structure. A large
force is needed to break the strong covalent
bonds and separate the atoms
Use as a cutting tool Cutting metals because it is very hard
Graphite (giant covalent structure)
● Structure: C atoms are arranged in flat, parallel layers. Within each layer, a C atom is
covalently bonded to 3 other c atoms to form a hexagonal layered structure
● Force : the strong electrostatic attraction between the bond pair electrons and the nuclei
of the two bonded atoms within each layer. Weak attraction forces exist between layers.
Very high melting and boiling point C atoms are held together by strong covalent
bonds throughout the giant structures. A lot of
heat is needed to break these strong bonds
between the C atoms
Insoluble in any solvents, including water The atoms are held by strong covalent bonds
and will not be pulled apart by the solvent
molecules
conduct electricity There are movement of delocalized electrons
among the layers
soft The attraction between the layers of C atoms
are very weak. Layers can easily slide over
one another
Use as a dry lubricant / pencil Use as a dry lubricant because it is slippery
Use in pencils and mixed with clay because
graphite is soft
Simple molecular forces
● Simple molecular structure: it consists of discrete molecules held by weak
intermolecular forces
● Intermolecular force: weak attraction forces between molecules
Low melting and boiling point Molecules are only held by weak
intermolecular forces. Little heat energy is
needed to overcome these weak forces in
order to separate the molecules.
Insoluble in water / aqueous solvent //
(exception: HCl, NH3, ethanol)
Soluble in organic / non-aqueous solvents //
Does not conduct electricity There are no mobile ions or delocalized
electrons to carry charges around
Factors affecting strength of intermolecular forces
1. The molecular size and mass of (element) is larger than (element), this leads to stronger
intermolecular forces between molecules. More heat or energy is required to overcome
these forces. Thus, (element) has a higher melting / boiling point than (element)
2. The intermolecular forces between polar molecules are stronger than those between
non-polar molecules
Boiling or melting a covalent molecular substance (e.g. water)
● Heating supplies energy to overcome the weak intermolecular forces between (xx)
molecules. The molecules become further apart.
Iodine (Simple molecular forces)
● Simple molecular structure: it consists of discrete I2 molecules held by weak
intermolecular forces
● Intermolecular force: weak attraction forces between molecules
● In solid state, the molecules are closely and regularly packed. The pattern is repeated
millions of times and resulted in a crystal.
Dry ice (Simple molecular forces)
● Simple molecular structure: it consists of discrete CO2 molecules held by weak
intermolecular forces. In each CO2 molecule, strong covalent bonds hold a C atom to
two O atoms
● Intermolecular force: weak attraction forces between molecules
● In each CO2 molecule, strong covalent bonds hold a C atom to two O atoms
● In dry ice (solid state), the molecules are closely and regularly packed. In carbon dioxide
gas, the molecules are far apart and irregularly packed.
C60 fullerene (Simple molecular forces)
● Simple molecular structure: the C60 molecules are held by weak intermolecular forces.
Each C atom in a C60 molecule is covalently bonded to 3 other C atoms forming a
spherical structure
● Force : the strong electrostatic attraction between the bond pair electrons and the nuclei
of the two bonded atoms within a molecule. Weak intermolecular forces between
molecules.
Lower melting and boiling point than that Little heat is needed to overcome the weak
in diamond and graphite intermolecular forces between the molecules
Dissolves in some solvent //
Does not conduct electricity The fourth electron on each C atom can only
move around within each molecule and
cannot jump from molecule to molecule,
where the electron is not perfectly
delocalized.
Not as hard as diamond There are only weak intermolecular forces
between the molecules. They are much
weaker than the covalent bonds in diamond.
Little force is needed to overcome the weak
intermolecular forces between the molecules
For injecting medicines into patients //
Chemistry metallic bonding
● Giant metallic structure: it consists of a regular, three-dimensional array of positive
metal ions surrounded by a “sea” of delocalized electrons
● Metallic bond (type of force): the strong electrostatic attraction between the positively
charged metal ions and a “sea” of delocalized electrons
strong Metal ions are held together by strong
metallic bonds in regular arrays. A large force
is needed to break these bonds to separate
metal ions
High melting and boiling points Metal ions are held together by strong
metallic bonds in regular arrays. A lot of heat
energy is needed to break these strong
bonds in order to separate the metal ions
Good electrical conductivity Metals contain delocalized electrons and they
allow a net movement / flow of electrons from
the negative terminal to the positive terminal
of a dc power source when connected in a
complete circuit
Good thermal conductivity (good The movement of delocalized electrons helps
conductor of heat) transfer of heat from the hotter end to the
colder end of a piece of metal
Malleable (can be beaten / hammered into A metal consists of regular layers of metal
shapes easily) ions which can slide over one another easily
when a force is applied. The positive ions are
Ductile (can be stretched / pulled out into still attracted to the “sea” of delocalized
wires easily) electrons by strong metallic bonds
Chemistry metallic bonding
● Delocalized electrons is one that no longer holds onto the nucleus of the original atom
and can more freely and randomly throughout the whole structure
● More delocalized electrons implies a stronger metallic bonding
○ (element) only has (number) electron per (element) atom is delocalized, which is
fewer than the (number) delocalized electron per (another element) atom
○ (Element) only have (number) positive charges
E.g. Na only has one electron per Na atom is delocalized, which is fewer than Mg atom
having 2 electrons delocalized. Na+ ions only have one positive charges while Mg2+
have two positive charges
Alloy
● A combination of two or more metals or a combination of a metal and a small
amount of non-metal (Alloy is a mixture not chemical reaction)
● Metals become much harder, less malleable and less ductile. In an alloy, the different
metals have slightly different sized ions. This breaks up the regular lattice arrangement
of ions and makes it more difficult for the layers of ions to slide
● Metals become more corrosion resistant and do not corrode easily
Examples
1. Brass → copper + zinc 4. Steel (for ships and cars) → iron +
2. Bronze → copper + tin carbon
3. Solder (for joining components in 5. Stainless steel (for kitchenware) →
electrical circuits due to low melting iron + chromium + nickel + carbon
point) → tin + lead 6. Cupronickel (for silver coins) →
copper + nickel