Covalent Bonding: Exploring Saturation, Structures, and Electron Clouds

[hasan_researc]

My lecturer writes the following in his lecture notes:
“ Covalent: Usually saturated, and usually form short scale structure (molecules), but can form strong giant structures too (e.g. diamond). e clouds distorted. One or more electron from each atom form -ve region between atoms.”

What quantity is saturated for a covalent bond? Is it the binding force? What does saturation mean anyway (in this context)?

What factors determine whether a covalently-bonded entity is short-scaled or giant?

What is an electron cloud? And what does distortion mean in this context? Why is the electron cloud distorted?

“ One or more electron from each atom form -ve region between atoms.” : What does this mean?

 

[Valerie Park]

Answer: The quantity that is saturated for a covalent bond is the number of electrons in the bond. Saturation in this context means that the bond is maximally stable and holds the maximum number of electrons possible. The factors that determine whether a covalently-bonded entity is short-scaled (molecular) or giant (diamond) are the number of atoms involved and the strength of their interactions. If a large number of atoms are held together by strong interactions, the structure will be giant. An electron cloud is the region around the nucleus of an atom where the electrons are most likely to be found. In a covalent bond, the electron clouds of the atoms involved become distorted due to the shared electrons between them. This distortion creates a negative region between the atoms which holds them together.