Covalent Bonding Characteristics

Question 1

What is bond length?

Answer 1

Distance between the nuclei of the two atoms in a bond
- The larger the atoms in a bond, the longer their bond length

Question 2

What is bond order?

Answer 2

Number of electron pairs shared between the atoms.
- Single bond = 1 electron pair
- Double bond = 2 electron pairs
- Triple bond = 3 electron pairs

Question 3

When comparing bonds between the same two atoms…?

Answer 3

A higher bond order usually has a shorter but stronger bond.
ex: double bonds have a higher order than single bonds, thus double bonds are shorter but stronger

Question 4

What is bond strength?

Answer 4

The amount of energy required to break a covalent bond

Question 5

What is bond dissociation energy?

Answer 5

The change in enthalpy when one mole of a bond in a covalent molecule in a gas phase is broken, resulting in gaseous fragments. It also varies based on bond order type and atoms involved in the bond order

Question 6

Formation of bonds from gaseous atom is always what?

Answer 6

Exothermic; releasing energy

Question 7

Breaking bonds is always what?

Answer 7

Endothermic; absorbing energy

Question 8

What happens as bond order increases in between the same elements?

Answer 8

Bond dissociation energy increases, bond length decreases

Question 9

What makes bond strength?

Answer 9

Bond order and bond dissociation energy. A shorter bond does not always mean a stronger bond, it depends on the two factors above