Why do things bond in chemistry?

[barthayn]

Hey, I will be taking a high school course in chemistry next week and I am wondering why things in chemistry work. No one taught me the reasons why it work, and therefore, never got good marks in it. Can someone tell me why certain elements bond in certain ways. For example, why does 2 H₂ + O₂ --> 2 H₂O

 

[DaleSwanson]

Much of what occurs in chemistry is the result of interactions between electrons. Electrons form shells around the nucleus. These shells have certain constant numbers of spaces available for electrons. Once the innermost shell is filled (2 spaces) the next shell begins to fill (8 spaces). In general, the most stable configuration is for the shells to either be filled or empty, not partially filled. If the shell is partially filled, the atom will tend to want to lose or gain electrons until it has either filled or emptied that shell. Oxygen has 6 electrons in its outermost shell, but wants to have 8. Hydrogen each have 1 and so oxygen can borrow two hydrogen atoms' electrons to complete its outer shell.

This is very general and simplified overview. If you want more details, you can start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covalent_bond"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_bond"

In addition, this is a great site to learn more about science and math in general:
http://www.khanacademy.org/video/ionic--covalent--and-metallic-bonds?playlist=Chemistry"

 

[Nikitin]

Simplified, there are three types of bonds in chemistry: Ionic bonds, covalent bonds and metallic bonds.

Metallic bonds are bonds that metal-atoms form with each other.

If a covalent or ionic bond forms, this is dependant on the electro-negativity of the participants. The greater the difference between the two participants electro-negativity, ie their ability to attract each other due to charge, the stronger the bond is.

 

[barthayn]

Thank you for all you help. It was all very useful.

 

[markfinn]

The most basic process that is involved in chemistry is the bonding of chemical elements. Bonding can take place either as non-covalent bond or covalent bond.
Putting primary focus on covalent bonding, covalent bonds are basically chemical compounds formed by the sharing of pairs of electrons among involved atoms.

 

[dixitjan@gmai]

Hey, I will be taking a high school course in chemistry next week and I am wondering why things in chemistry work. No one taught me the reasons why it work, and therefore, never got good marks in it. Can someone tell me why certain elements bond in certain ways. For example, why does 2 H₂ + O₂ --> 2 H₂O

Simply the bond formation occurs to form a stable compound or we can say for stablization. Now further a question arise, Why stablization occurs ? Answer is that to complete their octet in Chemistry or to acquire stable configuration and this process may complete via complete transferring of electrons or via sharing of electrons or via donation of electrons that's why the bond formation takes place in chemical reactions.