Describe is the difference between an ionic covalent and hydrogen bond?

Answer 1

Of the three, a covalent bond is the only one that is a true "bond." Atoms that are covalently bonded to each other are sharing a pair of electrons in order to achieve a full octet of electrons in their valence shell. This is a whole topic in itself, but the quick explanation is that atoms are "happiest" when their outermost electron orbital shell is full... which equates to eight electrons. When an atom has an opportunity to share an electron (or sometimes two or three) with another atom that will in turn share one of its electrons, they can be counted as "belonging" to both atoms, and the number of electrons in each atom's outermost orbital is increased. This "sharing" is called a covalent bond.

An Ionic bond is much different. Each element, in its neutral state, has a total number of electrons orbiting its nucleus that is equal to its Atomic Number (check out the Periodic Table). When there is an extra electron orbiting an atom, it gains an overall negative charge, and conversely, too few electrons will produce a positive charge for that atom. An ionic bond is like a magnet... the positive charge of one atom attracts the negative charge of another, and they stick together. Keep in mind that they are still two separate bodies, unlike the covalent bond where they actually share parts. For this reason, an Ionic bod is weaker than a covalent bond.


Hydrogen bonds... my favorite. I'll try to keep it brief. F, O, and N are electron hogs. When tiny Hydrogen is covalently bonded to one of these atoms, the single electron that it brought into the relationship is kept pretty far from its nucleus, leaving it with a partial positive charge. This charge can be attracted to any negative source, for example, electrons of another atom/molecule that are not participating in a covalent bond. It's like the magnet again, only a bit weaker. Hydrogen bonding is responsible for a myriad of chemical phenomena, but this answer is long enough.