Distinguishing a coordinate covalent bond

[Ying Yan 1F]

How can I distinguish that a molecule is bonded by a coordinate colvalent bond? Thanks!

[AnvitaaAnandkumar_1B]

By determining the difference in electronegativity between the elements.

[005384106]

How do you know when an atom has more covalent character?

[Kaitlyn Ang 1J]

All atoms have some covalent character, but the atoms can have more ionic character (aka less covalent character) if there is a greater difference in electronegativity between the atoms. This also means that atoms with more covalent character (aka less ionic character) has a smaller difference in electronegativity between atoms.

[Manav Govil 1B]

You have to remember the scale for covalent vs ionic character. If the difference between the electronegativities of the two atoms are less than 1.5, then it is a covalent bond.

[Rory Simpson 2F]

In looking at a coordinate covalent bond specifically, where two shared electrons are coming from the same atom, it's probably best to look at the Lewis structure and look at how the bond formed in the first place from reaction (where by looking at the valence shells you can see if a single atom is sharing two electrons from its valence shell).