What type of bond is formed when electrons are shared between atoms?

When electrons are shared between atoms, a covalent bond is formed. This occurs when two or more nonmetals come together and share pairs of electrons to achieve greater stability and fill their outer electron shells. In a covalent bond, each shared pair of electrons allows the participating atoms to attain a more stable electron configuration, similar to that of noble gases.

Ionic bonds, in contrast, are formed when electrons are transferred from one atom to another, resulting in the formation of charged ions. Hydrogen bonds refer to weak attractions that occur between a hydrogen atom covalently bonded to a highly electronegative atom and another electronegative atom. Metallic bonds involve the sharing of free electrons among a lattice of metal atoms, but these do not represent the electron-sharing characteristic that defines covalent bonds. Thus, the accurate representation of the sharing of electrons between atoms is indeed through covalent bonding.