Explain the nature of the covalent bond using the bond formation in CH3Cl

Carbon can neither lose 4 electrons nor do gain four electrons as these processes make the system unstable due to the requirement of extra energy. Therefore CH₃Cl completes its octet configuration by sharing its 4 electrons with carbon atoms or with atoms of other elements.

Hence the bonding that exists in CH₃Cl is covalent bonding. Here, carbon requires 4 electrons to complete its octet, while each hydrogen atom requires one electron to complete its duplet. Also, chlorine requires an electron to complete the octet. Therefore, all of these share the electrons and as a result, carbon forms 3 bonds with hydrogen and one with chlorine.