I have read plenty of books but it still gets tricky for me. Ionic is when you have a anion and cation together and covalent bonds is when an ion donates more protons than the other ions it is bonding???
i am confused please help.
2007-08-20 13:41:52 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
All bonds have a degree of covalency and ioniciy, but as a rule, the further the constituents atoms are to the left and right edges of the periodic table, the more ionic.
For example, NaCl (group 1 and group 7) is very ionic, while CH4 is very covalent. Earth metals (Na, K, Ca - those in groups 1 or 2) are more likely to be ionic since these metals lose an electron readily to become ions. Similarly, group 7 halides (F, Cl, Br) gain an electron readily to form negative ions.
C is pretty stable and does not like to form ions and hence forms covalent compunds to gain its full octet of outer electrons.
2007-08-20 13:52:49 · answer #1 · answered by struds2671 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a general rule of thumb, you could say that a compound composed of a metal + a nonmetal has an ionic bond and a compound that is made up of 2 nonmetals has a covalent bond.
Ionic bonds mean that the electrons between the two elements are not evenly shared, but rather one atom takes all the electrons for itself. In a covalent bond, the two atoms share electrons, even if one has more electrons surround it. This is where polar covalent vs. nonpolar covalent bonds arise.
2007-08-20 14:22:22 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
covalent the two elements form what is called an electron cloud, there will be sharing the same electron. only sharing
for Ionic, there will be a transfer of electrons, from positive ions to the negative one.
that is why in general you can say that Ionic bond is stronger than covalent bond, electronegativity will determine how much strong is the ionic bond
hope I helped
2007-08-20 13:53:57 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Electrons are the particle that is able to move.
In an ionic bond the electrons are actually transferred from one element to another, forming + and - ions, which are attracted.
In a covalent bond the electrons are shared between 2 or more atoms. It can be polar(not shared evenly) or nonpolar.
2007-08-20 14:24:16 · answer #4 · answered by science teacher 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The key is the difference in the electronegativity of the elements.
If the difference is greater than 1.5-1.7, then the bond is ionic. If it is less than 1.5, it will be covalent
2007-08-20 13:50:26 · answer #5 · answered by reb1240 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋