Representing Covalent Bonds

LO: To draw dot and cross diagrams to represent covalent bonds in molecules

Think about

1.How many electrons do atoms “want” in their outer shell to be stable?

2.What do atoms do with their electrons in covalent bonding?

Watch the video below to remind you how to represent covalent molecules using dot and cross diagrams, and also how to work out how many electrons need to be shared.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z373h39/video 

Complete the worksheet attached showing the dot and cross diagrams for some simple covalent molecules


What you should know:

  • Covalent bonding can be represented by using dot and cross diagrams
  • When representing covalent bonds only the outer shell is drawn
  • Each atoms shares enough electrons until it has a full outer shell of 2 or 8 electrons

Check your diagrams on the worksheet here: