how many covalent bonds are in a molecule of calcium phosphate?

Answer 1

The only covalent bonds that will be present are those in the phosphate ion, which will be between phosphorus and oxygen atoms. Each phospate will have 5 covalent bonds, three single P-O bonds and two bonds will be present in a P-O double bond. Calcium phosphate will have two phosphates so there will be 10 covalent bonds in the molecule.

Answer 2

The chemical formula of calcium phosphate is Ca3(PO4)2. The attraction between the calcium ions and the phosphate ions is due to ionic bonding and not covalent bonding, so the only covalent bonds occur within the phosphate ions themselves. Each phosphate ion has 4 single bonds between the P and the 4 O atoms. Each phosphate ion has 4 covalent bonds (not 5). Since there are 2 phosphate ions in the chemical formula, I'd say that there are 8 covalent bonds.

Perhaps it's worth pointing out that there are no "molecules" of calcium phosphate since it is an ionic compound, not a molecular compound. A better statement of the question might be "How many covalent bonds are in a formula unit of calcium phosphate?" Hope this helps.