covalent+compounds

A covalent chemical bond is an interaction between two atoms that binds them together.

The covalent bond is present between two nonmetallic elements, and is formed when the two atoms share an electron each to form the bond (therefore the bond itself is made up of two electrons).

Covalent compounds are neutral compounds formed between two or more nonmetals.

These compounds are named using numeric prefixes. The numeric prefix before the element's name is indicative of how many atoms of that element are in the compound.

Here are the prefixes:
 * 1) mono- (as in carbon monoxide)
 * 2) di- (as in carbon dioxide)
 * 3) tri- (like triangle)
 * 4) tetra- (think Tetris, all the pieces are made of four blocks)
 * 5) penta- (pentagon)
 * 6) hexa- (hexagon)
 * 7) hepta- (heptagon)
 * 8) octa- (8 sides, like a stop sign)
 * 9) nona-
 * 10) deca- (like a decade, 10 years)
 * 11) undeca-
 * 12) dodeca-

Water is considered a covalent compound. Its name using this system is [|dihydrogen monoxide]. Sounds technical, even dangerous!

Some seriously dangerous covalent compounds are [|carbon tetracloride], [|dichlorodifluoromethane], and [|hexacarbon hexahydride].

** Naming Covalent Compounds **
Covalent compounds are formed via the combination of two or more nonmetals. These compounds are named using a simple system of prefixes:

For example: N2O4 is given the name dinitrogen tetroxide.
 * **Prefix** || **Number** || **Prefix** || **Number** || **Prefix** || **Number** ||
 * mono- || 1 || penta- || 5 || nona- || 9 ||
 * di- || 2 || hexa- || 6 || deca- || 10 ||
 * tri- || 3 || hepta- || 7 || undeca- || 11 ||
 * tetra- || 4 || octa- || 8 || dodeca- || 12 ||

Sometimes the prefix mono- is dropped from the first element for simplification: CCl4 is carbon tetrachloride.

Note that the last element’s name ending is modified to “-ide” each time.

Try some practice problems.