Mastering Ionic Bonding

10 Questions

What is ionic bonding?

Ionic bonding is a type of chemical bonding that involves the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions, or between two atoms with sharply different electronegativities, and is the primary interaction occurring in ionic compounds.

What are ions?

Ions are atoms (or groups of atoms) with an electrostatic charge.

How are anions formed?

Atoms that gain electrons make negatively charged ions (called anions).

How are cations formed?

Atoms that lose electrons make positively charged ions (called cations).

What is the result of ionic bonding?

An ionic bond results from the transfer of electrons from a metal to a non-metal to obtain a full valence shell for both atoms.

What is electrovalence and how does it differ from covalence?

Electrovalence is the transfer of electrons between atoms to form ions in ionic bonding, whereas covalence involves the sharing of electrons between atoms in covalent bonding.

Give an example of a molecular ion and explain its composition.

NH+4 is an example of a molecular ion, composed of one nitrogen atom and four hydrogen atoms with a positive charge.

Explain the process of ionic bonding between a metal and a non-metal.

Ionic bonding occurs when a metal atom transfers electrons to a non-metal atom, resulting in the formation of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions.

What are the three main types of bonding?

The three main types of bonding are ionic bonding, covalent bonding, and metallic bonding.

Can ionic bonding occur between two non-metal atoms? Why or why not?

Ionic bonding typically occurs between a metal and a non-metal, as the metal readily donates electrons to the non-metal. However, in certain cases, ionic bonding can occur between two non-metal atoms if they have significantly different electronegativities.

Study Notes

Ionic Bonding

Ionic bonding is a type of chemical bonding that involves the transfer of electrons between atoms, resulting in the formation of ions with opposite charges.
It typically occurs between a metal and a non-metal atom.

Ions

Ions are atoms or groups of atoms that have gained or lost electrons, resulting in a net positive or negative electric charge.
There are two types of ions: cations (positive charge) and anions (negative charge).

Formation of Ions

Anions are formed when an atom gains one or more electrons, resulting in a negative charge.
Cations are formed when an atom loses one or more electrons, resulting in a positive charge.

Result of Ionic Bonding

The result of ionic bonding is the formation of a compound made up of ions with opposite charges, which are attracted to each other and held together by electrostatic forces.

Electrovalence vs Covalence

Electrovalence refers to the transfer of electrons between atoms to form ions, which are then attracted to each other to form a compound.
Covalence, on the other hand, involves the sharing of electrons between atoms to form a molecule.

Molecular Ions

A molecular ion is a polyatomic ion, which is a group of atoms that have a net electric charge.
Example: sulfate ion (SO42-), composed of one sulfur atom and four oxygen atoms.

Ionic Bonding Process

The process of ionic bonding between a metal and a non-metal involves the transfer of electrons from the metal to the non-metal, resulting in the formation of a cation and an anion.
The electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions holds them together and forms a compound.

Types of Bonding

There are three main types of bonding: ionic bonding, covalent bonding, and metallic bonding.

Ionic Bonding between Non-Metals

Ionic bonding cannot occur between two non-metal atoms because non-metals tend to gain electrons to form anions, and the formation of two anions with negative charges would result in repulsion rather than attraction.