Electrostatic nature of covalent bond

Abstract

Based on the toroidal structure of the electron shells of some atoms, discovered by scanning probe microscopy, a classical model for the formation of a covalent bond of homonuclear molecules, such as H2, O2 and similar, is proposed. When there is no spherical symmetry in the charge distribution on the electron shell in an atom, then outside it, in some spatial directions, an electric field is formed, leading to the appearance of Coulomb repulsive forces. Previously developed by Gillespie, the electron pair repulsion model relatively accurately described the interactions of atoms only in compounds of non-transitional elements, since the repulsive forces should increase with decreasing distance between atoms to a degree greater than the second, characteristic of the Coulomb forces. The structure of an atom of a homogeneous molecule is considered in the form of a planetary model, in which the electron shell is presented in the form of a uniformly charged ring, and the nucleus - in the form of a point charge in the center of the ring. Calculation of Coulomb fields between two homogeneous atoms is made. The results of calculating the differences between the fields of the nucleus and the electron shell, obtained by discrete division of the ring charge into 16 elements, are presented. The point charge in the simulation was set positive, and the ring charge was negative. At distances commensurate with the radius of the ring (from 2 to 4 radii), the intensity of the difference field along the axis increases by a factor of 2.3, and in the plane of the ring - by a factor of 1.7. When two "point-ring" systems are oriented in space at 90 degrees to each other, they must be attracted under the influence of not only gravitational, but also Coulomb forces. However, when such systems approach each other, the interaction of the two systems becomes more complex, and the attractive forces are balanced by the repulsive forces of like charges, forming a potential well and creating a stable spatial structure. The distances between point charges (nuclei) in such a system slightly exceed the radii of rings (electron shells), which corresponds to experimental data on the distances between atoms in two-atomic gas molecules.