What is the difference between ionic and covalent bonding?

Answer 1

In an ionic bond, atoms gain or lose electrons to follow the octet rule. This makes them either negatively or positively charged. The attraction between positive and negative is what forms the bond.
In covalent bonding, atoms share electrons with other atoms to follow the octet rule.

Answer 2

If I remember correctly a covalent bond is when electrons in the outer orbital are shared between two atoms in order to get an outer orbital with 8 electrons.

In ionic bonding the atoms have a different charge and stick together like the positive and negative poles on a magnet.

Answer 3

Ah, the classic question. Millions of chem buffs will be tripping over one another to answer this question. The truth, my friend, is that it is a scale. Ionic bonding is when two ions of opposite charges attract, because opposite charges attract. Usually the ions are formed by taking some number of electrons from one atom and putting them in another atom, to put it simply - that means the first atom acquires a positive charge from a lack of electrons, and the second atom acquires a negative charge from an excess of electrons.

Covalent bonding, on the other hand, happens when two atoms get together and decide to SHARE their electrons. They're then, so to speak, "locked in" to each other by these electrons floating around between them. Shared electrons. Simple as that.

But really it's NOT, because sometimes if one atom has a higher electronegativity than another (this means affinity for electrons), the electrons in the compound will spend more time around THAT atom.... that's called a polar bond, then, where there's a slight excess of electrons, a slight bulge, on one side of the compound. But then eventually you get atoms with such high electron affinity that they force ALL the shared electrons over to their side for the MAJORITY of the time, and then what do you have?? A clear excess of electrons; a negatively charged ion! And the other atom is POSITIVELY charged, because it's had electrons taken away from it! So then you have an ionic bond!

See how the lines between the two can get fuzzy?

I hope I wasn't too confusing here. I love answering these types of questions.

Answer 4

in ionic compounds the atoms exchange electrons ex : NaCl
atom sodium gibes an elctron to atom Cl so you hae two ions the positive Na+ and The negtiveCl-

In covalent bonding atoms share one or two PAIRS of electrona as H2