What is "covalent bond"

Bond \Bond\ (b[o^]nd), n. [The same word as band. Cf. Band, Bend.]

1. That which binds, ties, fastens, or confines, or by which anything is fastened or bound, as a cord, chain, etc.; a band; a ligament; a shackle or a manacle.

   Gnawing with my teeth my bonds in sunder, I gained my freedom.
   --Shak.

2. pl. The state of being bound; imprisonment; captivity, restraint. ``This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.''
   --Acts xxvi.

3. A binding force or influence; a cause of union; a uniting tie; as, the bonds of fellowship.

   A people with whom I have no tie but the common bond of mankind.
   --Burke.

4. Moral or political duty or obligation.

   I love your majesty According to my bond, nor more nor less.
   --Shak.

5. (Law) A writing under seal, by which a person binds himself, his heirs, executors, and administrators, to pay a certain sum on or before a future day appointed. This is a single bond. But usually a condition is added, that, if the obligor shall do a certain act, appear at a certain place, conform to certain rules, faithfully perform certain duties, or pay a certain sum of money, on or before a time specified, the obligation shall be void; otherwise it shall remain in full force. If the condition is not performed, the bond becomes forfeited, and the obligor and his heirs are liable to the payment of the whole sum.
   --Bouvier.
   --Wharton.

6. A financial instrument (of the nature of the ordinary legal bond) made by a government or a corporation for purpose of borrowing money; a written promise to pay a specific sum of money on or before a specified day, given in return for a sum of money; as, a government, city, or railway bond.

7. The state of goods placed in a bonded warehouse till the duties are paid; as, merchandise in bond.

8. (Arch.) The union or tie of the several stones or bricks forming a wall. The bricks may be arranged for this purpose in several different ways, as in English bond or block bond (Fig. 1), where one course consists of bricks with their ends toward the face of the wall, called headers, and the next course of bricks with their lengths parallel to the face of the wall, called stretchers; Flemish bond (Fig.2), where each course consists of headers and stretchers alternately, so laid as always to break joints; Cross bond, which differs from the English by the change of the second stretcher line so that its joints come in the middle of the first, and the same position of stretchers comes back every fifth line; Combined cross and English bond, where the inner part of the wall is laid in the one method, the outer in the other.

9. (Chem.) A unit of chemical attraction between atoms; as, oxygen has two bonds of affinity. Also called chemical bond. It is often represented in graphic formul[ae] by a short line or dash. See Diagram of Benzene nucleus, and Valence. Several types of bond are distinguished by chemists, as double bond, triple bond, covalent bond, hydrogen bond.

10. (Elec.) A heavy copper wire or rod connecting adjacent rails of an electric railway track when used as a part of the electric circuit.

11. League; association; confederacy. [South Africa]

    The Africander Bond, a league or association appealing to African, but practically to Boer, patriotism.
    --James Bryce.

    Arbitration bond. See under Arbitration.

    Bond creditor (Law), a creditor whose debt is secured by a bond.
    --Blackstone.

    covalent bond, an attractive force between two atoms of a molecule generated by the merging of an electron orbital of each atom into a combined orbital in the molecule. Such bonds vary in strength, but in molecules of substances typically encountered in human experience (as, water or alcohol) they are sufficiently strong to persist and maintain the identity and integrity of the molecule over appreciable periods of time. Each such bond satisfies one unit of valence for each of the atoms thus bonded. Contrasted with hydrogen bond, which is weaker and does not satisfy the valence of either atom involved.

    double bond, triple bond, a covalent bond which involves the merging of orbitals of two (or three) electrons on each of the two connected atoms, thus satisfying two (or three) units of valence on each of the bonded atoms. When two carbon atoms are thus bonded, the bond (and the compound) are said to be unsaturated.

    Bond debt (Law), a debt contracted under the obligation of a bond.
    --Burrows.

    hydrogen bond, a non-covalent bond between hydrogen and another atom, usually oxygen or nitrogen. It does not involve the sharing of electrons between the bonded atoms, and therefore does not satisfy the valence of either atom. Hydrogen bonds are weak (ca. 5 kcal/mol) and may be frequently broken and reformed in solution at room temperature.

    Bond of a slate or lap of a slate, the distance between the top of one slate and the bottom or drip of the second slate above, i. e., the space which is covered with three thicknesses; also, the distance between the nail of the under slate and the lower edge of the upper slate.

    Bond timber, timber worked into a wall to tie or strengthen it longitudinally.

    Syn: Chains; fetters; captivity; imprisonment.

n. (context chemistry English) A type of chemical bond where two atoms are connected to each other by the sharing of two or more electrons.

n. a chemical bond that involves sharing a pair of electrons between atoms in a molecule

A covalent bond, also called a molecular bond, is a chemical bond that involves the sharing of electron pairs between atoms. These electron pairs are known as shared pairs or bonding pairs, and the stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces between atoms, when they share electrons, is known as covalent bonding. For many molecules, the sharing of electrons allows each atom to attain the equivalent of a full outer shell, corresponding to a stable electronic configuration.

Covalent bonding includes many kinds of interactions, including σ-bonding, π-bonding, metal-to-metal bonding, agostic interactions, bent bonds, and three-center two-electron bonds. The term covalent bond dates from 1939. The prefix co- means ''jointly, associated in action, partnered to a lesser degree, '' etc.; thus a "co-valent bond", in essence, means that the atoms share " valence", such as is discussed in valence bond theory.

In the molecule , the hydrogen atoms share the two electrons via covalent bonding. Covalency is greatest between atoms of similar electronegativities. Thus, covalent bonding does not necessarily require that the two atoms be of the same elements, only that they be of comparable electronegativity. Covalent bonding that entails sharing of electrons over more than two atoms is said to be delocalized.