Question

Why don't covalent bonds result in the atoms involved in the bond being charged? Let's take the Chlorine/Cl2 molecule as an example. So each Chlorine atom in the Cl2 molecule has 7 valence electrons. Each Chlorine atom contributes 1 electron to the covalent bond; thus, 2 electrons are shared between the two chlorine atoms in the molecule and each Chlorine atom has a complete octet. The shared pair of electrons belong to both Chlorine atoms, meaning that each Chlorine atom has 18 electrons and 17 protons which is 1 more electron than the total number of protons. This implies that each chlorine atom has a net -1 charge. However, the Cl2 molecule has 34 electrons and 34 protons, implying that it doesn't have a net charge.

Why has such a contradiction arisen?

Can someone help explain this?

Answer 1

Covalent bonds do not result in the atoms involved in the bond being charged. In the case of the Chlorine/Cl2 molecule, each chlorine atom contributes one electron to the covalent bond, resulting in a shared pair of electrons between the two atoms. This shared pair of electrons belongs to both chlorine atoms, meaning that each chlorine atom has a complete octet. Consequently, the Cl2 molecule does not have a net charge because the total number of electrons is still equal to the total number of protons.

Step-by-step explanation:

A covalent bond is formed when two nonmetal atoms share a pair of electrons. The atoms involved in the covalent bond do not gain or lose electrons, so they do not become charged. In the case of the Chlorine/Cl2 molecule, each chlorine atom contributes one electron to the covalent bond, resulting in a shared pair of electrons between the two atoms.

This shared pair of electrons belongs to both chlorine atoms, meaning that each chlorine atom has a complete octet. Despite this, the Cl2 molecule does not have a net charge because the total number of electrons is still equal to the total number of protons.