Question

How many electrons form a covalent bond?

Answer 1

A covalent bond can be thought of as a 'shared pair' of electrons, so there are 2 electrons in each bond. That means that a double bond will have 4 electrons in the space between the bonded nuclei, and a triple bond will have 6.

Explanation:

Both `CH_4` and `H_2O` have only single bonds, so each bond has 2 electrons.

`CO_2` has the carbon in the middle and a double bond to an oxygen on each side. Each of those double bonds will contain 4 electrons.