Non-metals form covalent chlorides because______.

Non-metals often form covalent compounds with chlorine because they have a smaller electronegativity difference and share electrons with chlorine, as chlorine is also a nonmetal and contains 7 electrons in its outermost valence shell.

When non-metals, such as hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, bond with chlorine, they share electrons in order to complete their outermost electron shell. This results in the formation of a single covalent bond with one chlorine atom, as chlorine requires only one electron to complete the octet rule.

Examples of chlorine-containing covalent compounds are Chloroform (CHCl₃), PCl₃, PCl_5, etc.