Question

What are the strongest to weakest bonds?

Answer 1

1. A chemical bond is an attractive force that holds two atoms or ions of a molecule together.
2. Chemical bonds can be split into two groups based on bond energy (U).
3. Strong bond (Bond energy more than 42 kJ/mol): This group includes two types of bonds: ionic and covalent (polar and non-polar).
4. Weak bond (Bond energy less than 42 kJ/mol): This category includes four different bonds: hydrogen, dipole-dipole, and Van der Waals interaction.
5. Ionic bond: This is the strongest bond and it is formed by the electrostatic interaction between the atoms by the gain or loss of the electrons. For example, Sodium chloride in table salt demonstrates an ionic connection. The Sodium donates an electron to the Chloride, resulting in a pair of positively charged Sodium and negatively charged Chloride ions. Ionic bonds are formed when two opposite charges attract each other.
6. Covalent bonds: They are formed by the sharing of electrons or overlapping of orbitals of two atoms. For example, Each Hydrogen atom in a water molecule creates a single covalent link, while the Oxygen atom forms two. Both Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms can have entire outer electron shells as a result of this.
7. Hydrogen bond: It is formed when a very high electronegative atom is near a Hydrogen atom that has a partial positive charge, and so to neutralize the charge, the Hydrogen bond is formed. For example, The H-bonding of HF, for example, is zigzag, and the ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ ion is locked or forcefully attracted by two extremely electronegative ${\mathrm{F}}^{-}$, resulting in a lack of ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ ions.
8. Vander Waals interaction: This is the weakest bond among all of the above which is the sum of attractive and repulsive electrical force between atom and molecule. For example, in $\mathrm{HCl}$ chlorine is more electronegative than hydrogen, their bond is polar. The hydrogen end will be somewhat positive, whereas the chlorine end will be slightly negative. Permanent dipoles exist in the molecules. One molecule's positive end will attract the negative end of another molecule nearby.
9. Therefore, the order from strongest to weakest bond is Ionic bond > Covalent bond > Hydrogen bond > Vander Waals interaction. NOTE: Ionic bonds are stronger than the covalent bond in a vacuum condition but sometimes covalent bond is stronger than the ionic bond in an aqueous medium because of ionic compound dissociation.