Electronegativity and Bond Polarity The electronegativity difference between two bonded atoms helps characterize a bond as ionic, polar covalent, or nonpolar covalent.
These bond types fall on a spectrum from increasingly ionic to decreasingly polar. Ionic
bonds have an electronegativity difference greater than 2.0. A polar covalent bond is a
bond in which electrons are shared but not shared equally between the atoms. The
electronegativity difference of polar covalent bonds is between 0.4 and 2.0. A nonpolar
covalent bond is a bond in which the electrons are shared equally. Nonpolar covalent
bonds have minimal electronegativity differences (0.4 or less).
SEP Use Math Calculate the electronegativity differences and determine the
polarity for the bonds formed by the following pairs of atoms: K and F atoms
and N and O atoms.
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