The electronegative oxygen that is central to a water molecule is __ bound to two hydrogen atoms. These hydrogens are 'bent' to form a 105° angle because _

a.) ionically, four of the outer e- about oxygen are shared with hydrogens

b.) covalently, four of the outer e- about oxygen are shared with hydrogens

c.) covalently, of hydrogen bonding with other water molecules

d.) ionically, of hydrogen bonding with other molecules

When an atom is attached to another atom through sharing of electrons then bond formed between the atoms is known as a covalent bond. And, a bond formed by transfer of electrons from one atom to another is known as an ionic bond.

For example, electronic configuration of hydrogen is [tex]1s^{1}[/tex] and electronic configuration of oxygen is [tex]1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{4}[/tex]. So, in order to attain stability hydrogen needs 1 more electron and an oxygen atom needs two electrons.

Therefore, two hydrogen atoms need to covalently bond through an oxygen atom leading to the formation of [tex]H_{2}O[/tex].

Thus, we can conclude that the electronegative oxygen that is central to a water molecule is covalently bound to two hydrogen atoms. These hydrogens are 'bent' to form a [tex]105^{o}[/tex] angle because four of the outer e- about oxygen are shared with hydrogens.