Unit 2
There are three types of strong chemical bonds: ionic, covalent and metallic.
Students should be able to explain chemical bonding in terms of electrostatic forces and the transfer or sharing of
electrons.
Please note: the following is not arranged in the same order at the specification – I have grouped the information for
each bond type together.
Ionic
Ionic bonding occurs in compounds formed from metals combined with non-metals.
Students should be able to work out the charge on the ions of metals and non-metals from the group number of the
element, limited to the metals in Groups 1 and 2, and non-metals in Groups 6 and 7.
When a metal atom reacts with a non-metal atom electrons in the outer shell of the metal atom are transferred. Metal
atoms lose electrons to become positively charged ions. Non-metal atoms gain electrons to become negatively
charged ions. The ions produced by metals in Groups 1 and 2 and by non-metals in Groups 6 and 7 have the
electronic structure of a noble gas (Group 0).
The charge on the ions produced by metals in Groups 1 and 2 and by non-metals in Groups 6 and 7 relates to the
group number of the element in the periodic table.
Group 1 and group 2 metals have one or two electrons (respectively) in their outer shell. In order to have a full (or in
these cases empty) outermost shell, they need to lose their one or two electrons forming a 1+ or 2+ ion.
Group 6 and group 7 metals have six or seven electrons (respectively) in their outer shell. In order to have a full
outermost shell, they need to gain their two or one electrons forming a 2– or 1– ion.
Students should be able to draw dot and cross diagrams for ionic compounds formed by metals in Groups 1 and 2
with non-metals in Groups 6 and 7.
The electron transfer during the formation of an ionic compound can be represented by a dot and cross diagram, eg
for sodium chloride
The question should state “show outer electrons only”. IF you decided to show the inner shell electrons, these should
be show correctly, see later*.
In the above example, the Na and Cl on the left of the arrow are the reactant atoms. The choice of dot for Na and
crosses for Cl is arbitrary (you are allowed to swap them over, i.e. dots for Cl and crosses for Na). Note that Na has
one dot as it has one electron in its outer shell and Cl has seven crosses for its seven outer shell electrons.
When Na reacts with Cl, it does this by transferring Na’s one outer shell electron to Cl.
Two ions form: in this case Na+ and Cl–. These are shown on the right of the arrow (the products or this reaction).
We show square brackets around the ions that form, with the charges shown outside these brackets.
The metal (in this case Na) will now have no outer shell electrons and therefore none should be shown in the
brackets.
The non-metal will have a total of eight electrons. Since we initially used crosses for Cl, you should once again have
seven crosses (the non-metal doesn’t lose any of its initial electrons) and you add dots until there are eight in total.
Another example: magnesium reacting with fluorine.
Mg is in group 2, so has two electrons on its outer shell (2.8.2). On the left of the arrow you would write Mg:
F is in group 7, so has seven electrons in its outer shell (2.7). On the left of the arrow you would write F with seven
crosses around it, similar to the Cl in the example above.
Mg wants to lose its two electrons, but F only wants to gain one electron. Therefore two atoms of fluorine are required
to take the two electrons Mg wants to give away.
On the right of the arrow, you would write [Mg]2+ and 2x [F]–. Inside the brackets on the F– ion, there should be seven
crosses and one dot.
* IF you show the inner shell electrons, they must match, i.e. the inner shell electrons of the Na (in the above example)
MUST be dots to match the dot transferred to Cl. BUT, my advice is just don’t show them, unless you are explicitly
asked to show them.
For ionic bonding the particles are oppositely charged ions.
An ionic compound is a giant structure of ions. Ionic compounds are held together by strong electrostatic forces of
attraction between oppositely charged ions. These forces act in all directions in the lattice and this is called ionic
bonding.
Giant means: every bit is attached to every other bit by the same type of force (in this case all ions are held together
by ionic bonds), also every bit of the structure looks the same as every other bit.
Lattice means: alternating one then the other, think lattice pastry on pies.
Hopefully, I have drilled the phrase “strong electrostatic forces of attraction between oppositely charged ions” into you.
Each Na+ ion is surrounded by six Cl– ions. These six ions position themselves up/down, left/right and towards/away,
i.e. all perpendicular to their neighbours.
Each Cl– is likewise surrounded by six Na+ ions, again at right angles to each other.
The structure of sodium chloride can be represented in the following forms:
Students should be able to:
• deduce that a compound is ionic from a diagram of its structure in one of the specified forms
If you see pictures like those above, you need to recognise it as ionic. The positive and negative ions should be a
giveaway.
• describe the limitations of using dot and cross, ball and stick, two and three-dimensional diagrams to represent a
giant ionic structure
The limitations will be explained later for covalent molecules.
• work out the empirical formula of an ionic compound from a given model or diagram that shows the ions in the
structure.
empirical formula definition: the simplest whole number ratio of atoms (or in this case ions) in a molecule (or in this
case structure)
Using the ball and stick diagram of NaCl above, there are 13 Na+ ions and 14 Cl– ions shown. This is (roughly) a 1:1
ratio. The empirical formula would be NaCl.
A structure of magnesium fluoride would show (roughly) twice as many F– as Mg2+. The ratio would be 1:2. The
empirical formula would be MgF2.
Students should be familiar with the structure of sodium chloride but do not need to know the structures of other ionic
compounds.
Knowledge of the structures of specific ionic compounds other than sodium chloride is not required.
Part of the structure of MgF2 is as follows:
I’m sure you’ll agree that we should stick to the simple one: NaCl.
Ionic compounds have regular structures (giant ionic lattices) in which there are strong electrostatic forces of attraction
in all directions between oppositely charged ions.
These compounds have high melting points and high boiling points because of the large amounts of energy needed to
break the many strong bonds.
There are two reasons that lots of energy is needed to melt ionic substances: they have a giant structure and the ionic
bonds are strong.
When melted or dissolved in water, ionic compounds conduct electricity because the ions are free to move and so
charge can flow.
When solid, ionic substances cannot conduct electricity as the ions cannot move and hence charge cannot flow.
When molten or dissolved in water, the ions can now move and hence charge can flow.
Metallic
Metallic bonding occurs in metallic elements and alloys.
If you only have one type of atom (i.e. an element) and that is a metallic element, then there will be metallic bonds. If
you have a mixture of metallic atoms (i.e. an alloy), since there are only metal atoms involved, then it will still have
metallic bonds.
For metallic bonding the particles are atoms which share delocalised electrons.
Metals consist of giant structures of atoms arranged in a regular pattern.
This definition is different to the normal definition: metallic bonding is the electrostatic attraction between positive
metal ions and delocalised electrons. I asked AQA about this and they said that both definitions would be accepted,
but I am sceptical, since it was the one of the AQA subject team rather than the paper 1 GCSE assessment team who
gave me the answer.
My best (and worst?) advice would be to learn and use the GCSE definition: metal atoms sharing delocalised
electrons. And then at A level, to forget the GCSE definition and learn the A level one.
The sharing of delocalised electrons gives rise to strong metallic bonds. The bonding in metals may be represented in
the following form:
The diagram on the left of the arrow shows seven + (positive nuclei of the seven metal atoms?), each surrounded by
dashed lines representing the edge of the inner shell electrons and each having a – in a circle (which represents the
outer shell electron*).
The diagram on the right clearly shows seven ions surrounded by (a sea of) delocalised electrons (the grey shaded
region). But that can’t be true as the specification calls them atoms.
Metals have giant structures of atoms with strong metallic bonding. This means that most metals have high melting
and boiling points.
By “Most metals” it means normal metals, like iron, copper, aluminium [Link].
Group 1 metals have low melting points (all below 200 oC), therefore they must have relatively weak metallic bonds.
Mercury, which is a metal, is a liquid at room temperature, therefore must have weak metallic bonds.
The electrons in the outer shell of metal atoms are delocalised and so are free to move through the whole structure.
Metals are good conductors of electricity because the delocalised electrons in the metal carry electrical charge
through the metal.
Metals are good conductors of thermal energy because energy is transferred by the delocalised electrons.
If asked how metals conduct electricity, base your answer on this language (using Na as an example): the outer shell
electron of Na (or electrons if not in group 1) become delocalised. These electrons can move through the structure
and carry electrical charge.
If asked about metals conducting heat, give the same answer, but substitute ‘electrical charge’ for ‘thermal energy’.
In pure metals, atoms are arranged in layers, which allows metals to be bent and shaped. Pure metals are too soft for
many uses and so are mixed with other metals to make alloys which are harder.
Students should be able to explain why alloys are harder than pure metals in terms of distortion of the layers of atoms
in the structure of a pure metal.
Metals can be bent and shaped (are malleable) as the atoms in the giant structure are in regular layers. These layers
can slide over each other and the atoms stay in this new arrangement (they are still held together by the metallic
bonds).
If you add a different metal atom (or carbon atoms, in the case of many steels), the introduced atoms will be a different
size. This will cause the layers to not be able to form in a regular way. These distorted layers can no longer slide over
each other as easily. This makes the alloy harder to bend and shape – the metal will be harder and stronger.
Strictly, the specification at best alludes to the conductivity of alloys, but it is a stretch. The only way I can think to
explain what I mean is to copy and paste Q06.3 from 2023 paper 1 and its mark scheme:
Electrical wires are usually made of pure metals and not alloys. This is because pure metals are
better electrical conductors.
Suggest why alloys do not conduct electricity as well as pure metals.
Answer in terms of structure and bonding. [2 marks]
in alloys different sized atoms distort the layers / structure
(so) the movement of (delocalised) electrons is restricted
I can see how they could justify the first mark, but the second mark cannot be justified IMO.
Covalent
Covalent bonding occurs in most non-metallic elements and in compounds of non-metals.
Nobel gases do not form molecules in their elemental form, hence the usage of “most”.
For covalent bonding the particles are atoms which share pairs of electrons.
When atoms share pairs of electrons, they form covalent bonds. These bonds between atoms are strong.
Covalent compounds can have either a giant or a simple structure.
Some covalently bonded substances have giant covalent structures, such as diamond and silicon dioxide.
Substances that consist of giant covalent structures are solids with very high melting points. All of the atoms in these
structures are linked to other atoms by strong covalent bonds. These bonds must be overcome to melt or boil these
substances. Diamond and graphite (forms of carbon) and silicon dioxide (silica) are examples of giant covalent
structures.
Basically, there are two ways of recognising whether a compound will have a giant covalent structure.
1. it will be diamond, graphite (and hence graphene and carbon nanotubes) or silicon dioxide.
2. it will be made of non-metals only (hence covalent bonding) and will have a high melting and boiling point.
Students should be able to recognise giant covalent structures from diagrams showing their bonding and structure.
Hopefully, you will only see diamond or graphite (or graphene and carbon nanotubes).
If a question was about silicon dioxide, it would look like this:
The alternating pattern of Si and O should suggest that it has a giant structure. The fact that it doesn’t have an end, i.e
the structure continues (every bit is attached to every other bit by the same type of force (in this case all ions are held
together by covalent bonds), also every bit of the structure looks the same as every other bit.) is another clue that is
has a giant structure.
In diamond, each carbon atom forms four covalent bonds with other carbon atoms in a giant covalent structure, so
diamond is very hard, has a very high melting point and does not conduct electricity.
Students should be able to explain the properties of diamond in terms of its structure and bonding.
In diamond, each carbon atom is bonded to four other carbon atoms, by covalent bonds. The atoms are arranged in a
tetrahedron.
Diamond is very hard as forces placed upon the lattice are spread out over the regular crystal.
Diamond have a very high melting point as lots of energy is needed to break the strong bonds AND there are lots of
these bonds.
Diamond does not conduct electricity as it is made of atoms, which have no overall charge and all electrons are used
in bonding.
Graphene is a single layer of graphite and has properties that make it useful in electronics and composites.
Students should be able to explain the properties of graphene in terms of its structure and bonding.
Each carbon atom is covalently bonded to three other carbon atoms, by covalent bonds, so graphene has a very high
melting point.
Graphene is very strong in tension (it cannot be stretched) but is flexible. Graphene is the strongest known material.
Since carbon atoms have four electrons in their outer shell, and each carbon atom only uses three electrons in
bonding, the remaining electron is delocalised, which can carry charge through the structure.
Graphene conducts electricity (and heat) better than most (all?) metals.
Graphene is very light, an A4 sheet of graphene would be about 1000x lighter than an A4 sheet of paper.
Since it is such a good conductor, it is obviously useful in electronics.
Composites refer to materials made up like a sandwich: a thin layer of one material, e.g. a plastic, which is glued to a
layer of graphene, which is glued to another layer of plastic. The resulting composite would be flexible, very strong (in
tension) but would act as an insulator (the plastic would not conduct electricity).
In graphite, each carbon atom forms three covalent bonds with three other carbon atoms, forming layers of hexagonal
rings which have no covalent bonds between the layers.
Graphite is essentially just layers of graphene lying on top of each other. The layers in the graphite are not held to
each other by covalent bonds.
In graphite, one electron from each carbon atom is delocalised.
Students should be able to explain the properties of graphite in terms of its structure and bonding.
Students should know that graphite is similar to metals in that it has delocalised electrons.
As explained for graphene. Apart from the fact that the layers can slide and hence graphite is soft and slippery.
Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical fullerenes with very high length to diameter ratios. Their properties make them
useful for nanotechnology, electronics and materials.
If you wrap a single sheet of graphene into a tube, you can make a carbon nanotube.
These nanotubes are rigid (stiff), strong in both compression and tension and excellent conductors.
Fullerenes are molecules of carbon atoms with hollow shapes. The structure of fullerenes is based on hexagonal rings
of carbon atoms but they may also contain rings with five or seven carbon atoms.
The first fullerene to be discovered was Buckminsterfullerene (C60) which has a spherical shape.
Students should be able to:
• recognise graphene and fullerenes from diagrams and descriptions of their bonding and structure
Hopefully, you will be able to compare the diagrams given above to those you may see on your exam papers.
• give examples of the uses of fullerenes, including carbon nanotubes.
The most exciting use for fullerene is in drug delivery ‘cos they are hollow, unreactive and non-toxic.
There are lots of others, including: lubricants and catalysts.
IF a substance is made up of non-metals only AND it isn’t diamond, graphite (plus graphene and carbon nanotubes)
or silicon dioxide THEN it cannot have a giant structure.
Covalently bonded substances may consist of small molecules.
Students should be able to recognise common substances that consist of small molecules from their chemical
formula.
Unless it is SiO2, then any formula involving just non-metals will be simple molecules.
The covalent bonds in molecules and giant structures can be represented in the following forms:
All four diagrams show NH3, commonly known as ammonia.
• represent the covalent bonds in small molecules, in the repeating units of polymers and in part of giant covalent
structures, using a line to represent a single bond
The dash (–) in the bottom left diagram of ammonia above represents the shared pair of electrons, i.e. – represents a
covalent bond. Oxygen has a double bond (see below) so would be shown as O=O. Nitrogen would be NN.
• describe the limitations of using dot and cross, ball and stick, two and three-dimensional diagrams to represent
molecules or giant structures
dot and cross: does not show the shape / only two-dimensional.
ball and stick: the ions are not held apart, but are touching
two-dimensional diagram: (bottom left diagram for NH3) bonds are shown at right angles, but they are about 107o.
three-dimensional diagram: perhaps the best representation, but still flawed since only a small portion of the structure
is shown
Students should be able to:
• draw dot and cross diagrams for the molecules of hydrogen, chlorine, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen chloride, water,
ammonia and methane
Hydrogen chloride:
Hydrogen:
Water:
Chlorine:
Ammonia:
Oxygen:
Nitrogen:
Methane:
• deduce the molecular formula of a substance from a given model or diagram in these forms showing the atoms and
bonds in the molecule.
Can you count? I do hope so.
Black balls are carbon, white ones are hydrogen and red ones are oxygen.
= C2 H 6 O
= C3 H 6 O 2
= C4H9NO3
Substances that consist of small molecules are usually gases or liquids that have relatively low melting points and
boiling points.
These substances have only weak forces between the molecules (intermolecular forces). It is these intermolecular
forces that are overcome, not the covalent bonds, when the substance melts or boils.
Students should be able to use the idea that intermolecular forces are weak compared with covalent bonds to explain
the bulk properties of molecular substances.
The last image, showing three water molecules arranged as a gas. The intramolecular (within the molecules, i.e.
between the atoms in the molecules) forces, i.e covalent bonds DO NOT break when you boil water. In order to boil
water, you have to overcome the weak forces of attraction – the intermolecular (between the molecules). Since these
are weak, only a small amount of energy is need to overcome these intermolecular forces.
The intermolecular forces increase with the size of the molecules, so larger molecules have higher melting and boiling
points.
Clearly, you can see that as the molecular mass gets bigger, the intermolecular forces get stronger and hence more
energy is needed to overcome them, so the boiling point increases. But please, don’t say they get more sticky.
Name Formula Relative mass g/mol Boiling point / oC
Methane CH4 16 -162
Ethane C2H6 30 −89
Propane C3H8 44 −42
Butane C4H10 58 0
Pentane C5H12 72 36
The pattern with these compounds is that there are more carbon atoms and that these carbon atoms form one long
chain of carbon atoms (with hydrogen atoms sticking out the sides).
These substances do not conduct electricity because the molecules do not have an overall electric charge.
For the same reasons why diamond doesn’t conduct electricity.
Some covalently bonded substances have very large molecules, such as polymers.
Polymers have very large molecules. The atoms in the polymer molecules are linked to other atoms by strong
covalent bonds. The intermolecular forces between polymer molecules are relatively strong and so these substances
are solids at room temperature.
One polymer: poly(ethene), commonly called polythene, is just like the compounds in the table in the previous page
(methane to pentane). But instead of having a small number of carbon atoms in a chain, poly(ethene) can have more
than 10,000 carbon atoms in a chain – VERY big molecules indeed.
Students should be able to recognise polymers from diagrams showing their bonding and structure.
Polymers can be represented in the form:
where n is a large number.
We will study polymers in some detail in unit 10, but for now, all you need to be able to do is recognise the diagram
above as being a polymer.
The diagram shows two carbon atoms joined together with a – (i.e a covalent bond), with each carbon also forming
two bonds to two hydrogen atoms. Each carbon is forming a fourth bond, but this seemingly is left dangling outside the
brackets. The trick to polymers is that the contents of the brackets repeats.
The three states of matter are solid, liquid and gas. Melting and freezing take place at the melting point, boiling and
condensing take place at the boiling point.
The three states of matter can be represented by a simple model. In this model, particles are represented by small
solid spheres. Particle theory can help to explain melting, boiling, freezing and condensing.
The amount of energy needed to change state from solid to liquid and from liquid to gas depends on the strength of
the forces between the particles of the substance. The nature of the particles involved depends on the type of bonding
and the structure of the substance. The stronger the forces between the particles the higher the melting point and
boiling point of the substance.
(HT only) Limitations of the simple model above include that in the model there are no forces, that all particles are
represented as spheres and that the spheres are solid.
Forces: If you try to calculate the volume of a gas, the value you get is different (but much easier to carry out) if you
assume there are no forces acting between the particles than if you do the calculation correctly.
Spheres: Helium atoms are spherical. Polymer molecules most definitely aren’t.
Solid: atoms are mostly empty space (hydrogen atoms are 99.9999999999996% empty), they are definitely not solid.
Also: the diagram does not show movement of particles and is two-dimensional.
Students should be able to:
• predict the states of substances at different temperatures given appropriate data
Think about water, which freezes (and hence melts) at 0 oC and boils (and hence condenses) at 100 oC.
You know that at –20 oC, water is ice (i.e. solid). –20 is lower than the MP of water (i.e. 0 oC). At +20 oC, you know that
water is a liquid. +20 is between the MP and BP.
• explain the different temperatures at which changes of state occur in terms of energy transfers and types of bonding
• recognise that atoms themselves do not have the bulk properties of materials
Atoms (and molecules) can’t melt or boil. The hardness of a metal is caused by the difficulty to separate the atoms
from each other, rather than a property of the atoms themselves.
• (HT only) explain the limitations of the particle theory in relation to changes of state when particles are represented
by solid inelastic spheres which have no forces between them.
In chemical equations, the three states of matter are shown as (s), (l) and (g), with (aq) for aqueous solutions.
Students should be able to include appropriate state symbols in chemical equations for the reactions in this
specification.
Take extra care over your handwriting - it is easy for an ‘s’ to look like a ‘g’. State symbols are not written as subscript.
Nanoscience refers to structures that are 1–100 nm in size, of the order of a few hundred atoms. Nanoparticles, are
smaller than fine particles (PM2.5), which have diameters between 100 and 2500 nm (1 x 10-7 m and 2.5 x 10-6 m).
Coarse particles (PM10) have diameters between 1 x 10-5 m and 2.5 x 10-6 m. Coarse particles are often referred to as
dust.
Nanoparticles: 1 – 100 nm across.
PM2.5: 100 – 2500 nm across. PM refers to particulate matter.
PM10: 2500 – 10000 nm across.
Students should be able to compare ‘nano’ dimensions to typical dimensions of atoms and molecules.
Atoms are about 0.1 nm across. Small molecules, like glucose, are about 1 nm across. Viruses are about 100 nm
across.
As the side of cube decreases by a factor of 10 the surface area to volume ratio increases by a factor of 10.
1 cm 0.1 cm
0.1 cm 0.1 cm
1 cm
1 cm
The cube on the left has a volume of 1 cm3 and a surface area of 6 cm2.
The cube on the right has a volume of 0.001 cm3, 1000 of these have a volume of 1 cm3 (i.e. the same as the cube on
the left) each has a surface area of 0.06 cm2, 1000 of these have a surface area of 60 cm2 (i.e. 10x as much surface
area that the cube on the left).
Nanoparticles may have properties different from those for the same materials in bulk because of their high surface
area to volume ratio. It may also mean that smaller quantities are needed to be effective than for materials with normal
particle sizes.
Nanoparticles have many applications in medicine, in electronics, in cosmetics and sun creams, as deodorants, and
as catalysts. New applications for nanoparticulate materials are an important area of research.
Silver nanoparticles kill bacteria, whereas silver metal does not. Silver nanoparticles are put into socks, which kill the
bacteria that cause smelly socks.
Zinc oxide is effective as a sun screen, but makes your skin white. If the particle size of the ZnO is reduced to the
nanoscale, its effectiveness at blocking u.v. increases, so less needs to be used, which means your skin no longer
looks white.
Aluminium can be used to prevent perspiration. Nanoscale aluminium is better at preventing perspiration and doesn’t
make your skin white.
Students should consider advantages and disadvantages of the applications of these nanoparticulate materials, but do
not need to know specific examples or properties other than those specified.
Students should be able to:
• given appropriate information, evaluate the use of nanoparticles for a specified purpose
• explain that there are possible risks associated with the use of nanoparticles
Advantages:
Less can be used (for the same effect)
Greater surface area (to volume ratio)