Chemistry / Unit 6 Chem 0977 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Pure Covalent, Polar Covalent, and Ionic as One Continuum
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The idea
Pure covalent, polar covalent, and ionic bonding are three regions of one continuous electronegativity-difference scale, not separate mechanisms.
In practice
A bond between identical atoms sits at zero difference, purely covalent; Na–Cl sits at the ionic end of that same scale.
Where people slip
Textbooks draw cutoff numbers along this scale for convenience; the underlying quantity varies smoothly, with no true boundary.
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