Who are you?
Hi. I am noble gas neon.
Noble gases have complete outer electron shells, which make them stable.
I am Mr. Smart.
Hey, do you want to form a bond?
Let's form a bond.
No, I have complete outer electron shells.
Hey, I will bond with you.
In order to get that kind of stability, atoms come together to achieve the noble gas configuration.
This coming together and sharing of electron pairs leads to the formation of a chemical bond known as a covalent bond.
Where is my ball?
Let us understand covalent bonds with the help of an example.
Why are you both crying?
We are chlorine atoms.
I have seven electrons in my valence shell.
I need one more electron to attain stability.
Me too.
Why don't both of you share your electrons?
Great idea.
Two chlorine atoms come together and share their electrons to form a molecule of chlorine.
In this way, each atom will have eight electrons in its valence shell.
As a single pair of electrons is shared between them, the bond is known as a single covalent bond.
A single covalent bond is represented by a single dash between the atoms.
Great.
Hey.
What an idea.
Who are you?
I am Oxygen.
I have 6 electrons in my valence shell.
I need 2 more electrons to complete my octet.
So, I will share my 2 electrons with another oxygen atom.
Wow.
Thank you.
Oxygen.
Yes.
Let's share electrons and become stable.
When two oxygen atoms come together, they each share 2 electrons to complete their octets.
Since they share two pairs of electrons, there is a double bond between the oxygen atoms.
Where is my ball?
Have you seen my football?
Similarly, nitrogen atoms share a triple covalent bond to form a molecule of nitrogen.