Question

Covalent compounds are generally poor conductors of electricity. Why?

Answer 1

Covalent bond:

• Covalent bonds are known as the bonds formed due to sharing of electrons or we can say that they bond through the overlapping of atomic orbitals of participant atoms.
• Elements having very high ionization energy which are incapable of transferring electrons and elements having very low electron affinity generally tend to share their electrons with the atoms of other elements.
• And this type of transference through sharing of electron pairs among different or same kinds is termed a Covalent Bond.

Covalent compounds are generally poor conductors of electricity:

• During the formation of a covalent bond, when the electrons get shared within the bonds, hence, there are no electrons or ions available to conduct electricity.
• As we know the electrons or ions are responsible for the electrical conductance of a substance.
• Hence this explains the reason why covalent compounds are generally poor conductors of electricity.

Hence, the reason why Covalent compounds are generally poor conductors of electricity has been explained.