Chemical bonding is the electrostatic joining of atoms, driven by each atom's tendency toward a stable, noble-gas-like valence electron configuration (the octet, or duet for hydrogen). Ionic bonds form when an atom with low electronegativity donates an electron to an atom with high electronegativity, producing oppositely charged ions (a cation and an anion) held together by Coulombic attraction; covalent bonds form when atoms of similar electronegativity instead share electron pairs, with unequal sharing between differing electronegativities producing polar covalent bonds and molecular polarity; metallic bonds arise when many electron-donating metal atoms delocalize their outer electrons into a shared, mobile electron pool surrounding a lattice of resulting cations. These bonding types belong to the domain of general/inorganic chemistry, specifically the study of atomic structure and chemical bonding, and underlie downstream properties of matter such as conductivity, malleability, and boiling point.
Chemical bonding is the electrostatic joining of atoms, driven by each atom's tendency toward a stable, noble-gas-like valence electron configuration (the octet, or duet for hydrogen). Ionic bonds fo…