In
chemistry, a
single bond is a
chemical bond between two
atoms involving two
valence electrons. That is, the atoms share one pair of
electrons where the bond forms. Therefore, a single bond is a type of
covalent bond. When shared, each of the two electrons involved is no longer in the sole possession of the
orbital in which it originated. Rather, both of the two electrons spend time in either of the orbitals which overlap in the bonding process. As a
Lewis structure, a single bond is denoted as AːA or A-A, for which A represents an element (Moore, Stanitski, and Jurs 329). In the first rendition, each dot represents a shared electron, and in the second rendition, the bar represents both of the electrons shared in the single bond.