Calcium carbonate aside

Definition

The hybrid bonding case where calcium carbonate combines covalent bonds inside the carbonate ion with ionic attraction to calcium, making it a dominant scale-former.

Carbon sits at the center of carbonate bonded covalently to three oxygens in a rigid, symmetric structure that still carries a net minus two charge. Calcium, a small highly charged cation, binds that exposed charge through a strong ionic bond. The combined covalent and ionic interactions build a dense interlocking lattice that is energetically stable and extraordinarily hard to pull apart, and it shows inverse solubility.

Related concepts

Covalent bond · Ionic bond · Crystal lattice

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Part of The Blueprint of Water · 🧪 chemistry