Why do oxygen and fluorine form a covalent bond? [closed]








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Why do oxygen and fluorine form a covalent bond? I cant find an in-depth enough explanation online.




Well really the question is not why but why not?


Oxygen and fluorine readily form covalent bonds with other non-metals such as in $\ce{H2O}$, $\ce{CO2}$, $\ce{HF}$, etc. There is no reason stopping oxygen and fluorine from forming a covalent bond between each other. 


It is perhaps better to ask the more general question "why atoms form covalent bonds with each other in the first place". 


Simply put, atoms with lone electrons (called radicals) are very reactive and unstable. As well, atoms want to try to get 8 electrons in their outer shell so that they can obtain noble gas configuration and become even more stable. So when two atoms come together, one way to satisfy the above 2 goals is to share electrons with other.


In the case of $\ce{O}$ and $\ce{F}$, $\ce{O}$ has a 2 lone electrons and has 6 valence electrons while $\ce{F}$ has 1 lone electron and has 7 valence electrons. So what happens is 1 $\ce{F}$ atom comes and shares its lone electron with a lone electron of $\ce{O}$ to form a pair of electrons; called a covalent bond. Now the $\ce{F}$ atom has 8 electrons so it is *happy*. Then another $\ce{F}$ atom comes along and repeats the same process so that $\ce{O}$ now also has 8 electrons and is *happy*. So we are left with the molecule $\ce{OF2}$.


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