A covalent bond is a shared pair of electrons betweenatoms.They occur in non-metal elements such as oxygen or a non-metal compound such as H2O.
An example of this would be chlorine and hydrogen, chlorine has seven electrons on its outer shell whilst hydrogen has has one electrons on its outer shell. An electron is shared from each atom, now that theyre bonded, chlorine has eight electrons on its outer shell and hydrogen has 2 making them both full.
Covalent bonds are strong
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Giant covalent structures
All the atoms in giant covalent structures are linked together by covalent bonds.
These bonds must be broken in order to melt or boil the substance, this means they very high melting and boiling points.
DIAMONDS
Diamond is a form of carbon.
It has a giant rigid structure (lattice).
Each carbon atom forms four strong covalent bonds with other carbon atoms
All the strong covalent bonds, meaning that it is a very hard substance with a high melting point. However, it has no charged particles and so can not conduct electricity.
GRAPHITE
Graphite is another form of carbon
it has a giant covalent structure and high melting point, due to the fact that each carbon atom forms three covalent bonds with other carbon atoms, resulting in a layered hexagonal structure.
These layers are held together by weak intermolecular forces, meaning that the layers are slippery and so can easily slide over each other, making graphite soft and slippery. One electron from each carbon atom in graphite is delocalised these delocalised electrons allow graphite to conduct electricity.
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