A brief treatment of covalent bonds follows. For full treatment, see chemical bonding: Covalent bonds (chemical bonding).

Molecules that have covalent linkages include the inorganic substances hydrogen, nitrogen, chlorine, water, and ammonia (H₂, N₂, Cl₂, H₂O, NH₃) together with all organic compounds. In structural representations of molecules, covalent bonds are indicated by solid lines connecting pairs of atoms; e.g.,

A single line indicates a bond between two atoms (i.e., involving one electron pair), double lines (=) indicate a double bond between two atoms (i.e., involving two electron pairs), and triple lines (≡) represent a triple bond, as found, for example, in carbon monoxide (C≡O). Single bonds consist of one sigma (σ) bond, double bonds have one σ and one pi (π) bond, and triple bonds have one σ and two π bonds.

The idea that two electrons can be shared between two atoms and serve as the link between them was first introduced in 1916 by the American chemist G.N. Lewis (Lewis, Gilbert N.), who described the formation of such bonds as resulting from the tendencies of certain atoms to combine with one another in order for both to have the electronic structure of a corresponding noble-gas atom.

Covalent bonds are directional, meaning that atoms so bonded prefer specific orientations relative to one another; this in turn gives molecules definite shapes, as in the angular (bent) structure of the H₂O molecule. Covalent bonds between identical atoms (as in H₂) are nonpolar—i.e., electrically uniform—while those between unlike atoms are polar—i.e., one atom is slightly negatively charged and the other is slightly positively charged. This partial ionic character of covalent bonds increases with the difference in the electronegativities of the two atoms. See also ionic bond.