Covalent compounds Flashcards
What are covalent molecules?
They are non metals bonded together
By sharing an electron
What are the type of substances covalent bonds can make?
Simple mollecular substances: Like Chlorine, Ammonia which the atoms have strong covalent bonds and they also have weak inter-molecular forces
Larger structures: They can be used to make things like polymers (long chains made up of many different units called ‘monomers’ which make plastic bags and t-shirts)
Giant covalent structures are things like silicon dioxide and diamond and graphite which involve millions/trillions of atoms
Properties of covalent bonds
Low melting point
Poor electrical conductivity
Soft and flexible
The intermolecular forces are weak
Covalent bonds are strongs so it will be hard to disconnect the atoms that are connected to each other
What is required in order to break chlorine
You would need to break the intermolecular forces (which requires low temperatures)
Which chlorine boils at -34 degrees
The more molecular forces something has means?
The more the overall attraction which means that more energy will be required to break them (the melting and boiling point should increase as you go down the group)
Why do singular molecular forces not conduct electricity
Because there is no free electrons
Why don’t singular molecular forces conduct electricity
Because they do not have any free electrons and the molecules don’t have electric charges
As in order to conduct electricity or heat they need to have some electrons/ions that are free to move apart
Giant covalent structures
They are made up Non-metals which are bonded together by covalent bonds
They also have regular repeating lattices
Some structures: Diamond, Graphite, Silicone dioxide
They have a very high melting point and boiling point because these strong covalent bonds will have to be broken
They don’t conduct electricity because they don’t have charged particles except graphite
What is silicon dioxide made up of
Silicone and oxygen as the ratio
1:2
