How do we know that electrons overlap to form chemical bonds?

1 Answer
Jul 4, 2017

How? Well there is a whole scientific field devoted to the interactions between atoms, and the field is called #"chemistry"#..........

Explanation:

The modern chemical bond, #"the covalent bond"#, is conceived to be a region of high electron density between 2 positively charged nuclei, such that internuclear repulsion is negated and a net attractive force results from the like and unlike charges.

The given definition harks back to the ideas of covalent and ionic bonding to which we are first introduced in Chemistry. Covalent bonding results from the sharing of electrons between nuclei, whereas ionic bonding results from the transfer of electrons between nuclei to give discrete positive and negative ions, which are electrostatically attracted.