A carbon atom has the electronic structure 2.4.
Why does a carbon atom form four covalent bonds?
It gains four electrons to form an ion with a 4−4-4− charge.
It loses four electrons to form an ion with a 4+4+4+ charge.
It shares its four outer electrons to gain a full outer shell.
It has four electron shells and each shell forms one bond.
60 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Chemistry 2.3 Properties of materials, covering 2.3.1 Carbon bonding and the variety of organic compounds, 2.3.2 Diamond, graphite, fullerenes and graphene, 2.3.3 Bond strength, changes of state and predicting states, 2.3.4 Bulk properties and types of bonding, and 2.3.5 Nanoparticles: scale, surface area, uses and risks. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.