Unit 5: Bonding

Ascending to the summit of a mountain peak, a rock climber can survey the surrounding world. This world is composed of many different kinds of compounds, ranging from simple ones such as the sodium chloride found in the perspiration on the climber’s skin to more complex ones such as the calcite or pyrite found in certain rocks. How do these and thousands of other compounds form from the relatively few elements known to exist?

Worldwide, scientists are studying ways to increase food supplies, reduce pollution, and prevent disease. Understanding the chemistry of compounds that make up fertilizers, pollutants, and materials that carry genetic information is essential in developing new technologies in these areas. An understanding of the chemistry of compounds requires an understanding of their bonding.

Why is this important to us? The world around us is composed mainly of compounds. The properties of each compound are based on how the compound is bonded. The salts dissolved in the Earth’s oceans and the compounds that make up most of the Earth’s crust are held together by the ionic bonds. Also, most compounds, including in living organisms, are covalently bonded.

In this unit, you will:

1. Define a chemical bond.

2. Describe how ions form.

3. Identify ionic bonding and the characteristics of ionic compounds.

4. Relate metallic bonds to the characteristics of metals.

5. Analyze the nature of a covalent bond.

6. Determine the shape of the molecules.

7. Describe the characteristics of covalent molecules.

8. Compare/contrast polar and covalent molecules.

ª Notes

o Power Point

o Electronegativity Chart