Network covalent bonding

A network solid or covalent network solid (also called atomic crystalline solids or giant covalent structures)^[1]^[2] is a chemical compound (or element) in which the atoms are bonded by covalent bonds in a continuous network extending throughout the material. In a network solid there are no individual molecules, and the entire crystal or amorphous solid may be considered a macromolecule. Formulas for network solids, like those for ionic compounds, are simple ratios of the component atoms represented by a formula unit.^[3]

Examples of network solids include diamond with a continuous network of carbon atoms and silicon dioxide or quartz with a continuous three-dimensional network of SiO₂ units. Graphite and the mica group of silicate minerals structurally consist of continuous two-dimensional sheets covalently bonded within the layer, with other bond types holding the layers together.^[3] Disordered network solids are termed glasses. These are typically formed on rapid cooling of melts so that little time is left for atomic ordering to occur.^[4]

^ "Properties of solids". www.chem.fsu.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
^ "12.7: Types of Crystalline Solids- Molecular, Ionic, and Atomic". Libretexts. 2018-05-20. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
^ ^a ^b Steven S. Zumdahl; Susan A. Zumdahl (2000), Chemistry (5 ed.), Houghton Mifflin, pp. 470–6, ISBN 0-618-03591-5
^ Zarzycki, J. Glasses and the vitreous state, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1982.

[1] "Properties of solids". www.chem.fsu.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-08.

[2] "12.7: Types of Crystalline Solids- Molecular, Ionic, and Atomic". Libretexts. 2018-05-20. Retrieved 2021-02-08.

[Zumdahl-3] Steven S. Zumdahl; Susan A. Zumdahl (2000), Chemistry (5 ed.), Houghton Mifflin, pp. 470–6, ISBN 0-618-03591-5

[4] Zarzycki, J. Glasses and the vitreous state, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1982.

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