The force of attraction between the shared electrons and the positive nuclei of both atoms holds the atoms together in the molecule. The covalent bonds of covalent compounds are responsible for many o...The force of attraction between the shared electrons and the positive nuclei of both atoms holds the atoms together in the molecule. The covalent bonds of covalent compounds are responsible for many of the properties of the compounds. A few rules can be applied to name simple covalent compounds: name the left-most element in the periodic table first, add -ide to the second named element, and use prefixes for the numbers of atoms.