Terms
Bond
-
That which holds together atoms in molecules and ions in lattices.
Bond Dipole
-
The direction and magnitude of the charge separation in a bond.
Bond Length
-
The distance between bonded nuclei.
Bond Strength
-
The amount of energy necessary to break a bond. The energy gives a
measure of
how hard it is to
break a bond.
Closed Shell
-
An electron configuration with a full valence shell.
Coulomb's Law
-
A mathematical formula whose consequence is that negatively and positively
charged particles attract
each other and similarly charged species repel each other.
Covalent Bond
-
A bond that results from a sharing of electrons between nuclei.
Electronegativity
-
A measure of the ability of an atom to attract electrons to itself.
Formal Charge
-
The charge on an atom in a molecule as calculated by the rules outlined in
Covalent Bonding,
Heading .
Ion
-
A charged species created by the gain or loss of an electron from an atom
or neutral molecule.
Ionic Bond
-
A bond that results from electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged
ions. The cation is
positively charged, while the anion is negatively charged.
Lattice
-
A regularly repeating three-dimensional array of atoms,
molecules, or
ions.
Lewis Structure
-
A description of a covalent bond whereby electrons are represented by dots
and a
bond is represented
by placing a line between the two atoms in that bond. Only valence
electrons
are shown in Lewis
structures.
Lone Pair
-
A nonbonding pair of electrons.
Molecule
-
A chemical species containing a covalent bond.
Molecular Geometry
-
The three dimensional structure and orientation of the atoms, bonds, and
lone
pairs in a
molecule.
Octet
-
Eight electrons. For atoms other than H, the valence shell is filled with
eight
electrons. A filled
valence gives the molecule a noble gas configuration and renders it stable.
Open Shell
-
An electron configuration with a partially filled valence shell.
Resonance Structure
-
One of several Lewis structures whose average represents an accurate
depiction
of the molecule not
properly represented by one simple Lewis structure.
Valence Electron
-
An electron located in the valence shell.
Valence Shell
-
The orbitals with the highest occupied
principle quantum number.
Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion Theory
-
A theory used to predict bonding geometries that states that electron pairs
will
be distributed about the
central atom to minimize electron pair repulsions.
