V.

Bonding in compounds Part 1 Page 1

Topic V. Bonding in compounds Part 1

Reference Integrated Chemistry Today (2nd Ed.), L.H.M Chung, Book 1A, pg 72–74
Reading

Objectives 1.5.0.1, 1.5.1.1

– plan and describe experiments to establish that
(a) compounds made of metals and non-metals do not conduct electricity in the solid state but may do so
when melted or dissolved in water with decomposition occurring at the electrodes
(b) compounds made of non-metals are in general non-conductors of electricity even when melted or
dissolved in water
– deduce the existence of charged particles called ions in solutions of compounds made of metals and non-metal
(electrolytes) from electrolysis experiments
– recognise the existence of neutral particles called molecules in compounds made of non-metals only from the
fact that these compounds cannot conduct electricity even when melted or dissolved in water (non-
electrolytes)

Notes V. Bonding in compounds

According to particle theory of matter, all matters are

made up of tiny particles. And the properties of a Particles Attractions
substance is depending on the interactions (attractions)
among the particles.

For example, at a certain temperature, if the attractions

among the particles are very strong, the substance will
have a solid structure with various properties. It will be
hard, strong, with high melting point and high boiling
Properties and Structure
point.

Obviously, if the substances consist of different particles and involve different attractions, the properties and
structure of the substance will also be different.

However, particles and the attractions among them cannot be observed directly, the presence of different kinds of
particles and attractions can only be deduced through measuring the properties of different substances.
V. Bonding in compounds Part 1 Page 2

Through these observations, chemists found that basically all substances are made up of atoms, molecules or
ions. And they are all comprised of fundamental substomic particles.

Atom – smallest unit of an element. Order of discovery

Molecule – group of atoms / a particle which can exist Atom – 1803 by Dalton John
on its own. Molecule – 1858 by Stanislao Cannizzaro
Ion – charged atom or molecule. Ion – 1833 by William Whewell
Electron – 1897 by Joseph John Thomson

If the presence of different particles are taken into consideration, the attractions among different particles will
become more complicate.

Particles Attractions
atom atom - atom (covalent bond or metallic bond)
ion ion - ion (ionic bond)
molecule molecule - molecule (van der Waals' forces)

Properties and Structure

This also leads to the discovery of different kinds of attractions among different particles. Some of them are strong
e.g. covalent bond, ionic bond and metallic bond. Some of them are relatively weaker e.g. van der Waals' forces.

1. Covalent bond e.g. in water H2O, in hydrogen H2;

in chlorine Cl2
2. Ionic bond e.g. in sodium chloride (common salt)
Na+Cl-
3. Metallic bond e.g. in copper Cu
4. Van der Waals' forces e.g. among water molecules
V. Bonding in compounds Part 1 Page 3

Electrostatic nature of bondings

Normally, two table tennis balls don't attract or repel each other. However, if both are charged up negatively using
the static charge generator, they will repel each other. Conversely, if one is charged up negatively and another is
charged up positively, they will attract each other.

Unlike charges attract each other and like charges repel each other.
Basically, all bondings (attractions) studied in chemistry are electrostatic in nature.

Conduction of electricity
- an incident leads to discovery of ion (charged particle) and molecule (uncharged particle)

Indeed, electrostatic charge and electric current are the same thing. If the charges (either positive or negative) are
not moving, they are called electrostatic charges. If the charges are moving, it is known as electric current.

Among all the substances in the world, only very few are conductors of electricity. Some of them are in solid form
(e.g. metal and graphite) and some of them are in liquid form (e.g. sea water)

But why do they conduct electricity and what do a solid conductor and a liquid conductor share in
common ?

A good conductor must allow electric current to flow through, i.e. allowing electrical charges, either positive or
negative, to flow through.

A particle carrying charges is called a charge carrier. Electric current

e.g electron. If charge carriers can flow through a (Flowing of charges)
substance, the substance is called a conductor.

In order to conduct electricity, the charge carriers

inside the substance must be free to move. Just the
presence of charge carriers would not be enough, for
example, all substances contain electrons which are
negatively charged but not all substances are
conductors.
Charges
(Mobile charge carriers, Conductor
The particles which are free to move and carrying
charges are called mobile charge carriers. either positive or negative)
e.g. free electron in metal,
mobile ions
(charged particle in liquid electrolyte).
V. Bonding in compounds Part 1 Page 4

A. Electrolyte and non-electrolyte

In metal, the mobile charge carriers are known to be free electrons. Besides metal only very few solids conduct
electricity, graphite (a kind of carbon) is one of these exceptions. Graphite also contains free electrons.

In spite of this, a lot of compounds conduct electricity in solution form or molten form only.
e.g. salt solution is a kind of good conductor of electricity. However, salt conducts electricity only in aqueous state
or in molten state but not in solid state.

Scientists called this class of compounds electrolytes. (electro - electricity, lyte - liquid)

In contrast, the compounds which don’t conduct electricity in aqueous state or in molten state are called non-
electrolytes.

The process of conduction in electrolyte is also called electrolysis (electro - electricity, lysis - breaking down) of
electrolyte because the electrolyte will decompose at the same time.

Electrolyte - A compound which conducts electricity only in aqueous state or in molten state.
Non-electrolyte - A compound which does not conduct electricity in any state.

The followings are examples of electrolyte and non-electrolyte.

Electrolyte Non-electrolyte
Substance Constituent elements Substance Constituent elements
sodium chloride (common sodium, chlorine sugar carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
salt)
lead(II) bromide lead, bromine water (pure) hydrogen, oxygen
copper(II) chloride copper, chlorine

In general, electrolyte consists of metal and non-metal while non-electrolyte consists of only non-metals.

N.B. 1. Not all electrolytes consist of metal and non-metal only, for example, hydrogen chloride (HCl) is an
electrolyte but it consists of only non-metals. (will be studied in Form 4)
2. Pure water is a poor conductor of electricity, water conducts electricity only by dissolving an
electrolyte in it e.g. salt in salt solution.

Electrolyte and non-electrolyte consist of different kinds of particles.

Scientists called the particles responsible for conductivity of electricity in electrolyte - ions (charged particles).
Since the ions are free to move in aqueous or molten electrolyte, they are also known as mobile ions.

And the particles in non-electrolyte are called molecules (uncharged particle).

Conclusively, different conductors may contains different mobile charge carriers.

Conductor Mobile charge carrier

All kinds of metal free electron
Graphite free electron
Salt solution mobile positive and negative ion
V. Bonding in compounds Part 1 Page 5

1. Conductivity of an electrolyte and its physical state

Aqueous or molten sodium chloride is a conductor but solid sodium chloride crytal is not. No matter in aqueous
state, molten state or solid state, sodium chloride consists of the same kinds of particles (ions).

Therefore, the difference in conductivity must be caused by the difference in attractions. In solid state, the ions are
attracted strongly with each other and not able to move. This does not allow solid sodium chloride to conduct
electricity.

Solid sodium chloride Sodium chloride solution Molten sodium chloride

(non-conductor) (conductor) (conductor)

Glossary particle theory of matter particles attractions properties structure atom ion
molecule fundamental subatomic particles covalent bond metallic bond ionic bond
van der Waals' forces conductivity electric current mobile charge carrier electrolyte
non-electrolyte electrolysis mobile ions

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