Summary:
- Bond energy is the energy required to break a covalent bond between two atoms.
- A high bond energy means that a bond is strong and the molecule that contains that bond is likely to be stable and less reactive.
- The halogen elements all exist naturally as diatomic molecules (F2, Cl2, Br2, and I2) They are generally very reactive and thus have relatively low bond energies.
- The higher the bond energy, the less reactive the bond is.
- The triple bond that exists between the nitrogen atoms in nitrogen gas (N2) makes it very unreactive.