What type of bond is formed by the sharing of electron pairs between atoms?

A covalent bond is characterized by the sharing of electron pairs between atoms. This type of bond typically occurs between nonmetal atoms that have similar electronegativities, allowing them to share electrons rather than transferring them. This sharing enables each atom to attain a full outer shell of electrons, which contributes to the stability of the molecules they form.

In covalent bonding, the shared electrons contribute to each atom's electron cloud, and this overlapping creates a bond that holds the atoms together. The strength of a covalent bond can vary depending on the number of shared electron pairs; for example, a double bond involves two pairs of shared electrons, resulting in a stronger attraction compared to a single bond.

Other types of bonds do not involve electron sharing in this manner. Ionic bonds occur when electrons are transferred from one atom to another, creating charged ions that attract each other. Metallic bonds involve a "sea" of delocalized electrons that are shared among many atoms, allowing metals to conduct electricity and heat. Hydrogen bonds are weaker interactions that occur between a hydrogen atom and an electronegative atom (like oxygen or nitrogen) due to polar covalent bonds, but they do not involve the sharing of electron pairs in the same definitive way as covalent bonds do.