Covalent Compounds – Properties

• • Covalent bonding forms simple covalent compounds, or giant covalent compounds.
    • Simple covalent compounds are called molecules. 

• Molecular structures

• • • • Are usually gasses (such as oxygen and ammonia molecules) or liquids (such as water and cooking oil) under normal conditions of temperature and pressure.
      • have low melting and boiling points, because although they have strong intramolecular forces of attraction (covalent bonds), they have weak intermolecular forces that hold the molecules together. So, only a small amount of energy is required to break the molecules apart during heating. 
      • lack the ability to conduct electricity in any state as they do not have any free delocalized ions or electrons, to carry an electric charge.
      • Can be polar or nonpolar.
        • Polar bond – electrons unevenly shared between atoms which have different electronegativity strength. For e.g., water.
        • Non-polar – electrons shared evenly in the bond; i.e., no difference in electronegativity. For e.g., chlorine molecule.