Final answer:
Atoms connected by covalent bonds share electrons, with each atom providing one electron to the pair, forming a bond. These bonds can be single, double, or triple, depending on the number of shared electron pairs, and can be nonpolar or polar, depending on the equality of sharing.
Step-by-step explanation:
Atoms connected by covalent bonds share electrons. This sharing results in each atom contributing one electron to a shared pair, which forms the basis of a covalent bond. For example, in a single covalent bond, like that in hydrogen gas (H-H), two atoms of hydrogen each share a single electron. Covalent bonds are commonly found in molecules of nonmetals, where atoms need to share electrons to fill their valence electron shells.
Covalent bonds can vary in strength and number of shared electron pairs. Single, double, or triple covalent bonds involve the sharing of one, two, or three pairs of electrons, respectively. The sharing can be equal, resulting in nonpolar covalent bonds, or unequal due to differences in electronegativity between the atoms, which leads to polar covalent bonds.