What is a Hydrogen Chloride Molecule?
Chlorine and hydrogen are both non-metals.
A chlorine atom has 7
electrons in its
outer
shell.
Chlorine is in group 7 of the periodic table.
A hydrogen atom has 1 electron in its
outer shell.
Hydrogen can only form 1 bond.
The hydrogen
atom will share its
1 electron with chlorine
to form one covalent bond and make a
hydrogen chloride molecule
(HCl).
This is a picture of a hydrogen chloride molecule.
By sharing the two electrons where the shells touch
the hydrogen atom can count 2 electrons in its outer shell
and the chlorine atom can count 8 electrons in its outer
shell.
These full outer
shells with their shared electrons are now stable,
and the
HCl molecule will not
react further with other chlorine or hydrogen
atoms.
The pair of shared
electrons between the chlorine and hydrogen atoms
form a single
covalent bond.
The structural formula of a hydrogen chloride molecule is written
There are no ions present (no + or - charges) in hydrogen chloride gas
because
the electrons are shared, not
transferred from one atom to
another.
Hydrogen chloride does form hydrogen
ions and chloride
ions
when it is dissolved
in water to become hydrochloric
acid.
gcsescience.com Contents The Periodic Table Index Quizzes gcsescience.com
Copyright © 2011 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.
