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MoleculesAs you will see, covalent bonding usually results in a limited number of atoms being bonded together. These clusters of atoms are called molecules. An important distinction between ionic and covalent bonding is that ionic bonding results in network materials and covalent bonding usually results in molecular materials. There are some exceptions. In a few situations covalent bonding results in network materials. Those cases will be pointed out when we get to them. Molecules are the clusters of atoms that we get when a limited number of atoms are covalently bonded together. That "limited number" may be a small number, as will be the case with the molecules we deal with in this lesson. It may be a few dozen as in many of the organic compounds. It may be hundreds or thousands of atoms as in many of the biochemical compounds.
E-mail instructor: Eden Francis Clackamas Community College |
