Chemical Bonding

See chemical bonds in 3D: compare ionic and covalent bonding, build molecules and measure VSEPR bond angles, work out polarity from electronegativity, and rotate NaCl, diamond, graphite and metal crystal lattices. Hydrogen bonding explains the boiling points of hydrides.

14 interactive Chemistry simulations on chemical bonding.

Lewis structures – formal charge, resonance and dative bonds Chemistry · Chemical Bonding Build Lewis structures for 22 molecules and ions (H₂O, NH₃, CO₂, CO, O₃, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, ClO₃⁻, PCl₅, SF₆, XeF₄…): tap... Ages 15–16
2D + 3D Molecule polarity – electronegativity, bond dipoles and molecular dipoles Chemistry · Chemical Bonding Three screens to explore molecular polarity. Two Atoms: change the electronegativity χ of A and B to see how the... Ages 15–16
Molecular orbital diagrams – bond order and magnetism Chemistry · Chemical Bonding Fill the molecular orbital diagrams of the diatomic molecules H₂ to Ne₂ and the ions O₂⁺, O₂⁻, O₂²⁻ and N₂⁺ with... Ages 15–16
3D Molecule shapes – build bonds and lone pairs, measure bond angles (VSEPR) Chemistry · Chemical Bonding A 3D model in which students add single, double and triple bonds and lone pairs to a central atom, then watch the... Ages 15–16
3D VSEPR Molecular Shapes in 3D – Bonding Pairs, Lone Pairs and Bond Angles Chemistry · Chemical Bonding A rotatable 3D ball-and-stick model of molecular shapes predicted by valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR)... Ages 15–16
3D Orbital Hybridisation in 3D – sp³, sp², sp, Sigma and Pi Bonds Chemistry · Chemical Bonding A rotatable 3D model showing how the s and p orbitals of a central atom mix into sp³ (CH₄, NH₃, H₂O), sp² (C₂H₄,... Ages 15–16
Ionic vs covalent bonding – atomic models (NaCl, MgO, Cl₂, HCl, H₂O, CO₂, N₂) Chemistry · Chemical Bonding Two atoms approach each other: a metal fully transfers an electron to a nonmetal, forming oppositely charged ions... Ages 15–16
Hydrogen Bonding and the Boiling Points of Hydrides Chemistry · Chemical Bonding A graph of the actual boiling points of the hydride series H₂O–H₂S–H₂Se–H₂Te, HF–HCl–HBr–HI, NH₃–PH₃–AsH₃–SbH₃ and... Ages 15–16
Metallic bonding and alloys – sea of electrons, conductivity, malleability and the bonding triangle Chemistry · Chemical Bonding A layer of positive metal ions in a sea of delocalised electrons: apply a voltage to watch the electrons drift as a... Ages 17–18
Intermolecular forces and boiling points – London, dipole–dipole, hydrogen bonding Chemistry · Chemical Bonding Compare real (approximate, 1 atm) boiling points across seven series: alkanes C₁–C₈, the three isomers of C₅H₁₂, HCl... Ages 15–16
3D Crystal lattices in 3D – NaCl, diamond, graphite and metals Chemistry · Chemical Bonding Rotatable 3D models of crystal lattices: sodium chloride NaCl (face-centred cubic), diamond (tetrahedral carbon),... Ages 15–16
3D Metal Unit Cells in 3D – Simple Cubic, BCC, FCC and HCP Chemistry · Chemical Bonding A rotatable 3D model of one unit cell: simple cubic, body-centred cubic, face-centred cubic and hexagonal... Ages 17–18
Atomic interactions – forces and potential energy between two atoms Chemistry · Chemical Bonding Drag the right-hand atom towards or away from the fixed left-hand atom to see how the attractive, repulsive and... Ages 15–16
Bonding in solids – identify unknowns from their properties Chemistry · Chemical Bonding A virtual lab for working out the bonding in unknown solids from their properties. Heat each sample to estimate its... Ages 15–16