How Does Water Bond - Covalent Bonds

Learn the basics about the covalent bonding of water, when learning about covalent bonding within properties of matter. Water is made from one oxygen atom and two hydrogens. The oxygen has 6 electrons in its outer shell, but it really wants to have 8 to have a full shell. The hydrogens have one outer shell electron, but want to have two. The atoms share their electrons, forming covalent bonds. So all three atoms have full outer shells, and create a water molecule. Water has two covalent bonds. In water, the bonding electrons spend most of their time nearer the oxygen atom, because it is more ELECTRONEGATIVE. This means that it is electron withdrawing. As the negatively charged electrons are nearer the oxygen atom, the oxygen atom becomes a little bit negative itself, while the hydrogens become a little positive. This is called delta positive and delta negative. Water doesn’t just have any old covalent bonds; it has what we call POLAR COVALENT bonds and is a POLAR molecule. This is really important as it affects how water behaves and reacts with other elements.