The Chemical bond
Hydrogen molecule
The animation below shows how the hydrogen molecule is formed:
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Hydrogen is the most simple atom: it has only 1 proton in the nucleus and 1 electron moving around it. The hydrogen molecule is also the simplest molecule: it consists of 2 hydrogen atoms bound together.
The animation shows how 2 independent hydrogen atoms, if get close enough, can stick together and form a molecule. In that case, the electrons that previously orbited each of the atoms, start to move around both nuclei. The electrons are responsible for the chemical bond between the two atoms.
The chemical bonding provided by the 2 electrons in this case must outweigh the electrostatic repulsion between the 2 positive nuclei, so that a stable molecule is formed.
This process can be represented using the Lewis notation:
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