Covalent bonding and Lewis structures
Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersWhat is a covalent bond?
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 10 Flashcards — Covalent bonding and Lewis structures
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
What is a covalent bond?
Answer
A **shared pair of electrons** between two (usually non-metal) atoms.
Question
What is a lone pair?
Answer
A **non-bonding** pair of electrons that stays on one atom (drawn as two dots).
Question
What does a line represent in a Lewis structure?
Answer
A **bonding pair** (one shared pair of electrons).
Question
What is the octet rule?
Answer
Atoms tend to gain a full outer shell of **8 electrons** by sharing (or transferring) electrons.
Question
Single vs double vs triple bond?
Answer
Number of **shared pairs**: 1, 2, 3 — bond order 1, 2, 3. Higher order → shorter, stronger.
Question
Lewis structure of CO_{2}?
Answer
O=C=O — **two double bonds**, two lone pairs on each oxygen, none on carbon.
Question
Lewis structure of N_{2}?
Answer
N≡N — a **triple bond** with **one lone pair on each** nitrogen.
Question
Two common octet-rule exceptions?
Answer
**BF_{3}** (boron has 6 electrons) and **BeCl_{2}** (beryllium has 4) — electron-deficient.
Question
Steps to draw a Lewis structure?
Answer
Count valence electrons → least electronegative atom central → single bonds → complete outer octets → multiple bonds if the centre is short.
Question
How many lone pairs on N in NH_{3}?
Answer
**One** (three bonding pairs to H, one lone pair).
Read the notes
Full study notes for Covalent bonding and Lewis structures
Topic 2.2 hub
The covalent model
More from Topic 2.2
All flashcards in this topic
Chemistry exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free