State the type of covalent bonding in the following molecule.
Chlorine
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Answers
Answer:
I) Chlorine molecule shows single covalent bond.
Cl-----Cl
The chlorine atom has 7 electrons in it's valence shell and needs only one electron to complete it's octet i.e , 8 valence electrons.
A chlorine atom will share one electron with another chlorine atom to form chlorine molecule . This molecule has a single covalent bond due to sharing of 1 electron.
II) Nitrogen molecule has three covalent bonds.
The nitrogen atom has 5 electrons in it's valence shell and needs three electrons to complete it's octet .
The nitrogen atom will share 3 electrons with another nitrogen atom to form a nitrogen molecule with three covalent bonds (triple bond ).
III) Oxygen molecule has two covalent bonds .
O===O
Oxygen atom has 6 electrons in it's valence shell and requires 2 electrons to fulfill it's octet .
The oxygen atom will share two electrons with another oxygen atom to form a Oxygen molecule , which has two covalent bonds (double bond ).
Explanation:
Electron configuration of oxygen is 2,6.
An oxygen atom requires two electrons to achieve octet configuration. Thus in an oxygen molecule, two oxygen atoms share two electrons from each of the atoms to attain an octet configuration. Hence two electron pairs are shared between two oxygen atoms forming two covalent bonds. Hence oxygen is also called a divalent compound.