All chemical bonds involve electron

All chemical bonds involve electrons. Atoms will stay close together if they have ashared interest 1n one or moreelectrons. Atoms are at their most stable when they have ncpartially-filled electron shells. If an atom has only a few electrons in a shell, it will tend tolose them to empty the shell. These elements are metals. When metal atoms bond, a metallic Dond occurs. When an atom hasa nearlv full electron shell, it W11 tryfind electrons fromanother atom so that it can illits outer shell. These elements are usually described as nonmetals. The bond between two nonmetal atoms is usually a covalentbond. Where metal andon1etal atom come together an ionic bond occurs. There are also other, less common,ypes of bond but the details are beyond the scope of this material. On the next few pages,the Meallie, Covalent and lonic bonds will be covered in more detail.