All elements are made of atoms, but it is the structure and arrangement of these atoms which determine the specific element, isotope and state. Each atoms is comprised protons, neutrons and electrons. The protons and the neutrons form the nucleus of the atom whilst the electrons orbit this nucleus in ‘shells’. The number of protons determine the element, the neutrons the isotope, and the electrons the charge. These atoms can be bonded together in one of three ways. Either metallic, ionic or covalent bonding. Metallic bonding only occurs in metals and ionic bonding only occurs between metals and nonmetals but the atoms involved in either bonding form a giant lattice structure. Covalent bonding only occurs between nonmetals and can form three different structures (giant lattice, simple molecular, macromolecular) depending on the element(s).
Sodium
Sodium atoms are comprised of 11 protons, 12 electron and 11 electrons. As sodium is a metal, these atoms are bonded together by metallic bonding. When sodium atoms come together, they bond in a similar way to covalent bonding, by sharing their single electrons on their outer shells.
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Atoms of chlorine bond together through covalent bonding, a process which involves ‘sharing’ the electrons found on the outer shells. All atoms ‘want’ to have a full outer shell so when two chlorine atoms bond together they both share one of their own electrons on their outer shell. By doing this, the shared electron effectively becomes the eighth electron on the other’s shell. By filling each other’s shell with a shared electron they form a stable structure, which in this case, is a molecule of chlorine. Consequently, chlorine has a simple molecular structure. The covalent bond formed between two chlorine atoms specifically is a an end on overlap of two p-orbitals, known as a sigma bond. This is shown in the diagram