Explain the differences between ionic, covalent and hydrogen bonding with examples of each kind of bonding.

Question

I have 8 hours of lectures and I have listened to them all but it can be very hard to pin point all the details since it is so much information and so much going back and forth on the same topics and I just need some clarity.

Thank you

Answer 1

Ionic bonds are formed between atoms or molecules which carry net charges which cause them to be attracted to one another. NaCl is a classic example. Ionic bonds may come apart in solution, as when NaCl dissolves in water.

Covalent bonds are formed when electrons are shared between atoms and are MUCH stronger than ionic bonds. The bonds between the 2 hydrogen atoms and the one oxygen atom in a water molecule are examples of covalent bonds.

Hydrogen bonds are kind of the weaker, shorter-lived cousins of ionic bonds. They are formed when electrostatic charges cause molecules to be attracted to one another, but do not tend to be strong or stable. The reason that ice forms a regular lattice when frozen, even though it is chaotic at higher temperatures, is due to hydrogen bonds between the relatively positively-charged hydrogen atoms in the water molecules and the relatively negatively charged oxygen atoms in other water molecules. At high temp (above the melting point) the molecules are too energetic to be restrained by hydrogen bonds and so they do not tend to orient in a lattice. Hydrogen bonds are also responsible for the strength of the surface tension on water.