- #1
karen_lorr
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"Where" do electrons "go"(?) within a covalent bond
If you take a water molecule (H-O-H) with 2 covalent bonds (imagine, just for now, that this is the only 2 atoms around ;-).
The H’s electron and one of the O’s electrons (within the covalent bond) must be “somewhere”.
They were originally in an atomic orbital around their own nucleus.
But where are they “after the bond has formed”.
Do they orbit the whole molecule or do they continue to orbit their own (original) nuclei?
How is the bond formed (a sort of glue type analogy) – what actually makes the atoms “stick” ?
Thank you
If you take a water molecule (H-O-H) with 2 covalent bonds (imagine, just for now, that this is the only 2 atoms around ;-).
The H’s electron and one of the O’s electrons (within the covalent bond) must be “somewhere”.
They were originally in an atomic orbital around their own nucleus.
But where are they “after the bond has formed”.
Do they orbit the whole molecule or do they continue to orbit their own (original) nuclei?
How is the bond formed (a sort of glue type analogy) – what actually makes the atoms “stick” ?
Thank you