What type of bond involves the sharing of electrons between two non-metal elements?

Prepare for the DIVE Integrated Chemistry and Physics ICP Quarterly Exam 2. Enhance your understanding with multiple choice questions, hints, and detailed explanations. Be exam ready!

The correct answer is the type of bond that involves the sharing of electrons between two non-metal elements is a covalent bond. In covalent bonding, atoms achieve stability by sharing pairs of electrons. This sharing allows each atom to attain a full outer shell of electrons, following the octet rule for many elements, which is essential for chemical stability.

Covalent bonds typically form between non-metal elements, which have similar electronegativities. This means neither atom can easily attract the electrons away from the other, leading to a stable shared electron configuration. For example, in a water molecule (H2O), oxygen shares electrons with two hydrogen atoms, resulting in covalent bonds and giving the molecule its unique properties.

In contrast, other types of bonds involve different mechanisms. Ionic bonds occur when electrons are transferred from one atom to another, resulting in oppositely charged ions that attract each other. Metallic bonds involve a "sea of electrons" shared among a lattice of metal atoms. Hydrogen bonds are a type of dipole-dipole interaction between molecules that contain hydrogen bonded to highly electronegative elements like oxygen or nitrogen, but they do not represent a true bond formed by electron sharing.

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