Sydney Taylor

There are three different types of chemical bonds: Covalent, Ionic and Metallic.

A Covalent bond is when two atoms share electrons. Covalent bonds exist as neutral molecules. They have low melting and boiling points and usually have a weak force of attraction between molecules. They remain as the same molecule in water and will not conduct electricity. Atoms that tend to usually form covalent bonds are nonmetals.

An Ionic bond is a chemical bond between two ions with opposite charges. Ionic bonds contain positive and negative charged ions. They have high melting and boiling points. They have a strong force of attraction between both of them. They can conduct eletrical coductivity. Metals and nonmetals form ionic bonds. An example of an ionic bond is sodium chloride. The sodium atom loses the one electron in its outer shell to the chlorine atom, which uses the electron to fill its outer shell. When this happens, the sodium atom has a +1 charge and the chlorine atom has a -1 charge. The ionic bond is formed after the two oppositely-charged particles come together.

A metallic bond is formed when two metallic atoms share the valence electrons. A metallic bond is formed in metals. Metallic bonds have high electrical conductivity. An example is copper. The copper atoms are arranged in a certain manner in a copper metal. Here the valence electrons are free to mover around in a piece of copper metal. These valence electrons are come towards the positive parts of the copper. This results in metallic bonding.