Confusin between ionic and covalent?

Question

Let say I have

Li and S
F and F
CH3OH

If as such for example, how would I identify them between ionic or covalent like how would i distinguish them??? Please explain

Answer 1

First of all, it bears mentioning that there is no line between ionic bonds and covalent bonds in nature. This is a line that scientists draw. Rather than being a logical (either it's covalent or it's not) think of it as more like a spectrum, with some bonds being more covalent than others, and then having more covalent character than others.

Whether a particular bond is more or less covalent is going to depend on the electronegativities of the two atoms involved. Electronegativity can be thought of as how hard an atom pulls on electrons. When the electonegativites are equal, the bond is said to be 'purely covalent'. When they have a difference greater than 1.6 (a limit defined by scientific convention) they are sometimes called ionic (though they do still have SOME covalent character). If it's in between, the bond is sometimes called 'polar covalent'.

Electronegativity tends to follow a trend of increasing as you go up and to the right on the periodic table. So F is the most electronegative atom around (at 3.98), and Fr is pretty much the least (at 0.7). C has an electronegativity of 2.55, O is 3.44, Li is 0.98, S is 2.58, and H has 2.20 (I looked these up - nobody memorizes them).

So F-F is pretty clear right off. Same atom, same electronegativity, so this has to be purely covalent. C and H are pretty close too, so all C-H bonds are pretty much covalent.

Li and S are pretty different - a difference of exactly 1.6. Since that's not MORE then 1.6, someone who's being picky is going to say that's not ionic, though they're obviously wrong for reasons I stated in the first paragraph. O is not quite so different from C and H, so all the O-H and O-C bonds are strongly polar, but are not usually called 'ionic'.

There's a good link below that explains it all (and more) in greater depth, but not too complexly (as far as I can judge). Hope that helps!

Answer 2

Covalent Bonds-Covalent bonding is a form of chemical bonding between two non metallic atoms which is characterized by the sharing of pairs of electrons between atoms and other covalent bonds. A covalent bond is formed between two non-metals that have similar electronegativities. Neither atom is "strong" enough to attract electrons from the other. For stabilization, they share their electrons from outer molecular orbit with others Ionic Bonds-Ionic bond, also known as electrovalent bond is a type of bond formed from the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions in a chemical compound. These kinds of bonds occur mainly between a metallic and a non metallic atom. An ionic bond is formed between a metal and a non-metal. Non-metals(-ve ion) are "stronger" than the metal(+ve ion) and can get electrons very easily from the metal. These two opposite ions attract each other and form the ionic bond. EG: Covalent: Methane (CH4), Hydro Chloric acid (HCL), which elements are all nonmetals Ionic: Sodium chloride (NaCl), Sulphuric Acid (H2SO4 ) etc.

Answer 3

To be honest it is very easy. If you have a periodic table look at the table. Now Li is atomic # 3 while S is atomic # 16 so you have two elements on the obosite side of the table creating an electronegative difference of 1.7 (but thats senior chemistry) so hence it is ionic also ionic bonds only occur between metals and now metals.
For F to F your atomic number is 9 for both and its between two non metals so hence it is covalent.
As for CH3OH thats a hydrocarbon i believe called Methanol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CH3OH
but if you were to classify it as a covalent or ionic bond it would be covalent

Answer 4

Ionic bonding occurs between a metal and a non-metal. The product formed is called an ionic compound. Ionic bonding occurs when metals transfer electrons to non-metals in order to form a neutral compound.

Covalent bonding on the other hand occurs between a non-metal and a non-metal. Non-metals want to gain electrons in order to have a stable electron configuration. When two non-metals want to form a compound, they must SHARE electrons. The sharing of the electrons is called covalent bonding. When covalent bonding occurs, a molecule is formed.

So now to help you with your examples:
Li and S- so lithium and sulfur..lithium is a metal and sulfur is a non-metal, therefore it is ionic.
F and F- that is flourine and flourine..that is two non-metals, therefore it is covalent- actually a flourine atom and a flourine atom is an example of a diatomic molecule, don't know if you've learned that yet
CH3OH- im not sure what this is..have not learned about it yet. But I hope this helps, good luck!

Answer 5

Ionic bonding happens when the electronegativity of the bonding elements are very different. So much that the positive ionpracticaly steals an electron from the negative ion. This i turn makes them charged and attracted to eachother.

Covalent bonding happens when the electronegativity of the bonding element are simalar and so easily share electrons without distorting the electron cloud by pulling an electron towards it

Answer 6

As a general rule of thumb, if the difference of electronegativity of two elements is 1.7V or greater, the the compound is ionic. Less than 1.7 is covalent. You need an electronegativity table.

Answer 7

Any interaction between a metal and non metal is ionic.

Any interaction between 2 non metals is covalent.

Lithium is a metal and Sulfur in a nonmetal, therefore, they share an ionic bond.

Flourine and another flourine is all non metal, therefore they share a covalent bond.

Methanol (CH3OH) are all non metal elements, they all share covalent bonds.

Answer 8

covalent bonds are good because they are shared between atoms . and ionic bonds are bad as they exist because of electrostatic force . this sentence will help you to remember the differance.

Answer 9

ionic bonds are bonds that share an electron, i forget what covalent ones do

Answer 10

Get a study group. It helps alot~~ good luck with that.