Chapter 6 The Structure of Matter Key Terms
chemical bonds - the attractive forces that hold atoms together
chemical structure – the arrangement of atoms in a substance
bond length - the average distance between the nuclei of two bonded atoms
bond angle - The angle formed by two bonds to the same atom
space filling model – shows the relative sizes of atoms in a compound; Shows the relative
amount of space each atom actually takes up, but don't show bond lengths clearly.
ball and stick model - a molecular model in which atoms are represented by balls and bonds by
sticks. The advantage of this type of model is that one can see the orientation of the atoms and
bond types
structural formula - a chemical formula that shows the arrangement of atoms in a molecule or a
polyatomic ion; each dash between a pair of atoms indicates a pair of shared electrons
6.2 Ionic and Covalent Bonds
ionic bonds - formed when one or more electrons are transferred from one atom to another.
Bond of opposite charged atoms and always a metal and a nonmetal.
network Structure - the regular repeating pattern that causes a compound to have very high
boiling and melting points.
covalent bonds - a chemical bond that involves sharing a pair(s) of electrons between atoms in a
molecule-- two non metals bonded together
single bond - a bond formed when two atoms share a pair of electrons
double bond - a chemical bond formed when atoms share two pairs of electrons
triple bond - a chemical bond formed when atoms share three pairs of electrons
non-polar bond - a covalent bonded molecule where the electrons are shared equally; see above
polar Bond - a covalent bonded molecule where the electrons are not shared equally (H2O)
metallic bond - Bond created between two metals in which electrons are shared equally; “Sea of
Electrons”
polyatomic ions - an ion that is made of more than one atoms covalently bonded together but
acts like a single ion; use parentheses ( )
6.3 Compounds Names and Formulas
chemical formula - a combination of chemical symbols and numbers(subscripts) to represent a
substance; H20
molecular formula – the chemical formula that shows the number and kinds of atoms in a
molecule, but not the arrangement of atoms; C6H12O6
empirical formula - a chemical formula showing the lowest ratio of elements in a compound
rather than the total number of atoms; CH2O
.