Chemical compounds are molecules made up of more than one element, with most of the earth’s crust and living organisms being in compound form. Compounds are held together by different chemical bonds, with covalent and ionic bonds being the most common. Noble gases are non-reactive elements. Other types of bonds include metallic bonds and van der Waals forces.
A chemical compound is a type of molecule (a collection of bonded atoms) made up of more than one element. For example, water (H2O) is a compound, while diatomic hydrogen (H2) is not. Most of the atoms that make up the earth’s crust and living organisms are in compound form. Compounds are represented by molecular formulas listing the constituent atoms and their abundance.
Depending on the atoms, a compound can be held together by different chemical bonds. Bonds are formed through the interactions of atomic electron shells in various orbital configurations. Depending on the number of electrons orbiting the nucleus of the atom and the amount of space in the orbitals, some atoms are prone to bonding with some other types of atoms. Lewis points, a graphical system of representing compound bond types, named after the chemist Gilbert Lewis, are often taught in high school chemistry classes. The existence of chemical bonds has been hypothesized since at least the 12th century, although the whole field was poorly understood until the concept of electronic bonds was introduced by Lewis in the 12th.
When an atom has a “full” electron shell, it is very non-reactive and tends not to bond with other atoms. These elements are on the far right of the periodic table and are called noble gases. Examples include helium, neon and argon.
In chemical compounds, the most common type of bond is a covalent bond, where both constituent atoms have similar electronegativity, resulting in an even sharing of electrons. The electron orbitals overlap, and a single electron can orbit both atomic nuclei, belonging to neither exclusively. An example of a molecule held together by covalent bonds is diamond. A second type of bond, the ionic bond, occurs in atoms with significant differences in electronegativity, where that atom dominates the electron supply. These tend to be slightly weaker than covalent bonds. An example is sodium chloride, or salt.
There are other types of bonds: metallic bonds, van der Waals forces and many others. Together, these make up all the chemical compounds in the universe.
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