What are chemical bonds?

Answer 1

Hi Michael L.,

Not really philosophy, though early philosophers may have dabbled in such thoughts.

Chemical bonds is the term we give to the result of atoms sticking "permanently" to each other, or occasionally when they are only strongly attracted but not permanently stuck. Because nuclei of atoms are small, tucked away inside the atoms, and strongly repulsive to other nuclei, chemical bonds are accomplished through the action of the outermost electrons on atoms. For permanently-stuck-together atoms, two atoms with the capability of sharing, donating or accepting electrons approach each other. Their electron clouds interact, and some energy is liberated and absorbed by usually other atoms or molecules surrounding. After that happens, the stuck-together (bonded) atoms are not able to break apart again -- they don't have enough energy to do so. A chemical bond has been formed. Now, we say that this bond is "permanent", meaning that, at normal conditions, it won't break. But if enough heat energy is supplied to the bonded atom pair, or if a more-strongly-bond-capable atom approaches, the original bond may come apart, and new bonds are then likely formed. Bonds form because individual atoms prefer to fill up things termed electron shells surrounding them, and most atoms can't do this on their own, they don't have enough electons for it. But if they share electrons in a bond, both bonded atoms consider that they have filled their electron shells, and both are energetically "happy".

Now, as to the "only-strongly-attracted" case, that would be hydrogen bonding. The hydrogen atom is a sucker for electron-hungry atoms around it, and if it can have two of them close at once, that makes it "happier". It is permanently bonded, more or less, to one of these electron-hungry atoms, and still attracted to the other. That makes the molecules of such a substance clump together somewhat, and is the reason the water is liquid at room temperature -- lacking that, it would be a gas boiling at maybe -100C!

One other case -- ionic bonds -- are chemical bonds resulting when one atom just donates one or more electrons to other atoms, permanently. The two (or more) ions thus formed stick together as a salt.

-- Hope that provided the level of overview you wanted,

--Cheers, --Mr. d.