MDCAT Chemical Bonding 2026 — Ionic, Covalent, Hydrogen

Bond Types

• Ionic — electron transfer; metal + non-metal.
• Covalent — electron sharing; non-metal + non-metal.
• Polar covalent — unequal sharing (electronegativity difference 0.4–2.0).
• Hydrogen bond — H attached to F, O, or N + electronegative atom in another molecule.

VSEPR Shapes

• 2 bonding pairs — linear (BeCl₂)
• 3 bonding pairs — trigonal planar (BF₃)
• 4 bonding pairs — tetrahedral (CH₄)
• 3 bonding + 1 lone — pyramidal (NH₃)
• 2 bonding + 2 lone — bent (H₂O)

Hybridisation

• sp — linear; sp² — trigonal planar; sp³ — tetrahedral
• sp³d — trigonal bipyramidal; sp³d² — octahedral

Pair with Atomic Structure.