Types of Chemical Bonds

In the world of science, their are four(4) main types of chemical bonds: Ionic bonds, Covalent Bonds, Metallic Bonds, and Hydrogen Bonds.

IONIC BONDS
-An ionic bond is a chemical bond in which the electrical force between two oppositely charged ions hold the atoms together. In simpler words, it is a bond between a metal and a nonmetal. An example of such a bond is the bond between a sodium atom (Na) and a chloride atom (Cl), or between a magnesium atom (Mg) and an oxygen atom (O). In the illustration to the left, the sodium atom is sharing it's electrons with the chloride atom. One of the reasons why atoms bond is to share electrons to achieve ultimate stability. This is exactly what happens in each type of bond, just like this one. The atoms are bonding together to make a more complex substance. In this specific bond and in the picture, the result of the ionic bond is sodium chloride.

COVALENT BONDS
-A Covalent Bond is a chemical bond in which neighboring molecules share electrons in a strongly bonded group of at least two atoms. In simpler words, it is the bond between a nonmetal and a nonmetal. Picture an ionic bond giving and taking electrons while covalent bonds share them. The simplest covalently bonded molecules contain two atoms of the same element, such as the diatomic gases hydrogen (H2), nitrogen (N2), and oxygen (O2). These elements will make the most simplest bond. For example, in the case of hydrogen, each atom has a relatively unstable single electron. Two hydrogen atoms can pool their electrons to create a more stable two-electron arrangement. As long as the hydrogen atoms remain close to each other, then the sharing of electrons may continue and a chemical bond is able to occur. The same situation occurs for the oxygen ion. Each oxygen ion has eight electrons, so they will also share two pairs of electrons as well. These are the most common examples of covalent bonds.

METALLIC BONDS
-A Metallic Bond is a chemical bond in which electrons are redistributed so that they are shared by all of the atoms as a whole. However, this bond only occurs between a metal and a metal, hence metallic. A perfect example of such a bond is between two copper atoms, which is rather simple. Since copper has an oxidation number of positive two, that means that it will give away two electrons to "share" them with the other copper atom. This is why this bond is so simple. It is the sharing of electrons between two of the same atoms, copper and copper. However, not all metallic bonds are this simple. They can get much more complex, such as bonds between copper and zinc to create brass and bonds between copper and tin to create bronze. This also shows how important metallic bonds are in our life. Most of our things made of certain metals are created through metallic bonds. Without metallic bonding, then there would be no complex metals in our lives today, making parts of life very hard to get through.

HYDROGEN BONDS
-A Hydrogen Bond is a weak bond that may form after a hydrogen atom links to an atom of certain other elements (i.e. oxygen or nitrogen) by a covalent bond. This specific type of bond only occurs between hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. This bond is primarily weak because of the hydrogen ion itself. It forms the weakest bond with any other element. Hydrogen is the weakest element out of all of the elements on the periodic table. Due to hydrogen's weakness, any type of bond that it will be able to make will most likely be relatively weak. The hydrogen atom is always capable of bonding with oxygen and nitrogen. This is because of the high amounts of electronegativity that lies in within them. Electronegativity is the tendency to gain or lose electrons. In simpler terms, oxygen and nitrogen are elements that want to bond to achieve stability. These elements are able to become very close to stability by bonding with hydrogen. The hydrogen gives the oxygen and nitrogen atoms just enough electrons to achieve stability. Since their number of electrons is so close to a stable number such as 8, their electronegativity rate is very high. This is why oxygen and nitrogen atoms make such hydrogen bonds.