Intermolecular Bonding Essay

Intermolecular Bonding Essay


Write an essay on intermolecular bonding. Explain how each type of bond arises
and the evidence for the existence of each. Comment on their strengths in
relation to the types of atoms involved; the covalent bond and relative to each
other. Use the concepts of different types and strengths of intermolecular bonds
to explain the following:

There exists four types of intermolecular bonding, they include ionic, covalent,
Van der waals and hydrogen bonding. In order to describe the existence of such
bonding you must also understand the concepts of polarity, polar and non-polar,
and electronegativity.

Ionic bonds are created by the complete transfer of electrons from one atom to
another. In this process of electron transfer, each atom becomes a ion that is
isoelectronic with the nearest noble gas., the substance is held together by
electrostatic forces between the ions. The tendency for these ions to be formed
by elements is corespondent to the octet rule, when atoms react,, they tend to
do so in such a way that they attain an outer shell containing eight electrons.
The factors that effect the formation of ions are ionization energy, electron
affinity, lattice energy.

Figure 1

The transfer of electrons involved in the formation of (a) sodium chloride and
(b) calcium fluoride. Each atom forms an ion with an outer shell containing
eight electrons.

For many elements, compounds   cannot be formed by the production of ions, since
the energy released in the formation of the lattice of ions would be
insufficient to overcome the energy required to form the ions would be
insufficient to overcome the energy required to form the ions in the first place.
In order for the atoms to achieve a noble gas configuration they must use
another method of bonding by the process of electron sharing. From figure 2, you
can see that the example of two hydrogen atoms combing. As the atoms get closer
together, each electron experiences an attraction towards the...