Why is there H^+ ions in Hcl? [closed]








**Closed.** This question is [off-topic](/help/closed-questions). It is not currently accepting answers.
 
 






---








 **Homework questions** must demonstrate some effort to understand the underlying concepts. For help asking a good homework question, see: [How do I ask homework questions on Chemistry Stack Exchange?](https://chemistry.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/141/how-do-i-ask-homework-questions-on-chemistry-stack-exchange)




Closed last year.








[Improve this question](/posts/164343/edit) 



I am new to chemistry, just learning the basics. So, my question is: Hydrogen and chlorine form a covalent bond, so shouldn't they both be negative as they both got an electron by sharing? Why is H positive even though it has formed a covalent bond? If Hydrogen had formed an ionic bond by giving an electron, then it would have been clear, but why covalent?




Gaseous/liquid $\ce{HCl}$ has covalent bond, sharing 2 electrons. As they are shared, atoms do have them solely for themselves and therefore they cannot be both negative. 2 shared electrons means effectively 1 electron for each atom as before bonding.


The shared electrons are partially attracted toward the $\ce{Cl}$ atom, which obtains partial negative charge while $\ce{H}$ atom partial positive charge. This forms an electric dipole by displaced charges.


When HCl is dissolved in water, water molecules break H-Cl bond into ions, which get hydrated:


$$\ce{HCl(g) ->[H2O]H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)}$$


 1