Which term describes a chemical bond formed by sharing electrons between atoms?

• A. Ionic bond
• B. Covalent bond
• C. Metallic bond
• D. Hydrogen bond

Answer: (B)

Sharing electrons between atoms is what a covalent bond is all about. When two nonmetals with similar attraction for electrons come together, neither can completely grab an electron from the other, so they share one or more pairs of electrons. Those shared electrons hold the atoms together and form molecules, like in H2, O2, or CH4.

Ionic bonds, by contrast, come from transferring electrons from one atom to another, creating ions that attract each other. Metallic bonds involve a lattice of metal atoms surrounded by a sea of delocalized electrons, not shared pairs between two specific atoms. Hydrogen bonds aren’t actual bonds formed by sharing electrons; they’re strong attractions between molecules that occur when hydrogen is bonded to highly electronegative atoms like oxygen, nitrogen, or fluorine.