Ionic and Molecular Compounds
The nature of the attractive forces that hold atoms or ions together within a compound is
the basis for classifying chemical bonding. When electrons are transferred and ions
form, ionic bonds result. Ionic bonds are electrostatic forces of attraction, that is, the
attractive forces experienced between objects of opposite electrical charge (in this case,
cations and anions). When electrons are “shared” and molecules form, covalent
bonds result. Covalent bonds are the attractive forces between the positively charged
nuclei of the bonded atoms and one or more pairs of electrons that are located between
the atoms. Compounds are classi ed as ionic or molecular (covalent) on the basis of the
bonds present in them.
Ionic compounds and Ionic Bond
When an element composed of atoms that readily lose electrons (a metal) reacts with
an element composed of atoms that readily gain electrons (a nonmetal), a transfer of
electrons usually occurs, producing ions. The compound formed by this transfer is
stabilized by the electrostatic attractions (ionic bonds) between the ions of opposite
charge present in the compound. For example, when each sodium atom in a sample of
sodium metal (group 1) gives up one electron to form a sodium cation, Na+, and each
chlorine atom in a sample of chlorine gas (group 17) accepts one electron to form a
chloride anion, Cl−, the resulting compound, NaCl, is composed of sodium ions and
chloride ions in the ratio of one Na+ ion for each Cl− ion. Similarly, each
calcium atom (group 2) can give up two electrons and transfer one to each of two
chlorine atoms to form CaCl2, which is composed of Ca2+ and Cl− ions in the ratio of
one Ca2+ ion to two Cl− ions.
A compound that contains ions and is held together by ionic bonds is called an ionic
compound. The periodic table can help us recognize many of the compounds that are
ionic: When a metal is combined with one or more nonmetals, the compound is usually
ionic. This guideline works well for predicting ionic compound formation for most of
the compounds typically encountered in an introductory chemistry course. However, it
is not always true (for example, aluminum chloride, AlCl3, is not ionic).
You can often recognize ionic compounds because of their properties. Ionic compounds
are solids that typically melt at high temperatures and boil at even higher temperatures.
For example, sodium chloride melts at 801 °C and boils at 1413 °C. (As a comparison,
the
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molecular compound water melts at 0 °C and boils at 100 °C.) In solid form, an ionic
compound is not electrically conductive because its ions are unable to ow (“electricity” is the
ow of charged particles). When molten, however, it can conduct electricity because its ions are
able to move freely through the liquid (Figure below)
In every ionic compound, the total number of positive charges of the cations equals the
total number of negative charges of the anions. Thus, ionic compounds are
electrically neutral overall, even though they contain positive and negative ions. We can
use this observation to help us write the formula of an ionic compound. The formula of
an ionic compound must have a ratio of ions such that the numbers of positive and
negative charges are equal.
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