Chapter 4 Forming Compounds

Chemical Bonding Chemical bond-the attractive force that holds ions together.  Chemical bonds form because atoms are losing and gaining electrons to become stable and this creates a force of attraction btwn charged particles.

Why do Atoms bond together? Chemical structure shows us how atoms come together to form compounds. ExH 2 O = means there are 2 H atoms for every 1 O atom. ** this makes sense because O needs 2 e- s and H has one available.

Properties of Chemical Bonds Bond length describes the average distance between the center of two bonded atoms. ** Very small distances- the closer the length, the stronger the force holding the atoms. Bond angle-the angle formed by two bonds to the same atom Ex: H 2 O – Angle is very important to us, it dictates many of the atoms physical properties. If water were different, it would change the ability of water to be a liquid at room temperature. Therefore life on earth would not be possible.