Transcript Building Covalent Molecules

Building Covalent
Molecules
AP Biology
Make 2 Hydrogen Atoms
• Are these atoms likely to form ionic bonds?
• What bond can atoms do to instead to become stable?
• Slide your models together to show the covalent bond sharing on their
outer 2 orbitals.
Take notes as necessary into your notebook
Make Methane, CH4
Build Oxygen, O2
Small Group Discussion: Can you answer these
questions?
• How do the valence electrons influence molecular bonding?
The number of open places on the valence shell determines the number of bonds the atom can make
• How does electronegativity influence molecular bonding?
If there is a large difference between the electronegativities of the 2 atoms that are bonding,
then the atom with greater electronegativity can steal electrons from the atom with lower
negativity to fill its outer orbital. If the electronegativity of both atoms are equal, or nearly
equal, then the 2 atoms will form a covalent bond.