Ionic and covalent bonding example

Sodium and chlorine are elements that bound ionically creating sodium chloride salt. Hydrogen and oxygen are elements that create water in covalent bonding.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• bond
• ionic
• covalent
• sodium
• chlorine
• salt
• hydrogen
• oxygen
• water

[julianajuliana]

That sodium makes me hungry... I just want to take a bite of that

[SolRosenberg84]

It looks like silver bubblegum.

[Daski69]

@ThePustr117 Hehe :P So far no one's had the answer. Not even my chemistry student on a university level of a friend.

[ThePustr117]

@Daski69 I actually might ask my chemistry teacher the same question.

[ThePustr117]

@ThePustr117 ........tively and negatively charged ions arranged in repeating patterns. In sodium chloride, each sodium ion is surrounded by six chloride ions and each chloride ion is surrounded by six sodium ions. I'm not sure how else to answer your question, as it's a good question. I'm just a sophomore in high school taking chemistry so I'm no chemistry expert. But I did get my information from my chemistry textbook so what I was able to tell you was valid.

[ThePustr117]

@Daski69 First I'd like to say sodium chloride is not a molecule. It's an ionic compound. Molecules are covalently bonded atoms. I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, I just wanted to be clear on that. And your right, the human eye could never see a single NaCl particle. The sodium chloride crystals we see are groups of NaCl. If your in school, ask a chemistry teacher about coordination number. Ionic compounds (NaCl) do not exist as single discrete units but as collections of posi........

[Daski69]

@ThePustr117 ....... (third comment) I thought that the molecules have to bond with each other or is it possible that the cristals we see with our plain vision are single NaCl molecules? That is seemingly strange to me though since a single molecule should according to my common sense be too small to see without microscopes.

[Daski69]

@ThePustr117 ........... and they will bond due to electric forces, BUT, what I wanted to know was:

A salt or ionic band, whatever you want to call it, is neutral, the elements as we know have electric charges and therefore bond but the bond in whole, let's say NaCl is neutral. What I want to know is that how do the NaCl (or other ionic bonds) bond with eachother, is it NaCl + NaCl? It seems impossible since they're both neutral, right? Since we can see salt cristals without microscopes......

[Daski69]

@ThePustr117 Firstly, thank you very much for making the effort to help a stranger.

Secondly, I already possessed the knowledge that you provided me with. :P

I know that if delta (the difference in electronegativity) between two elements is greater than 1,8 (that is the number we've been taught, some say it's 2,0, I'll still go with 1,8 since our teacher apparently wants us to believe that) the valence electrons will leap over (from a metallic element to a non-metallic element)

[ThePustr117]

@Daski69 Secondly, the reason for electrons being lost or gained in an ionic bond is due to the fact that the gaseous element has enough electronegativity to actually take the valence electron(s) in a metallic element. In covalent bonds, one of the elements does not have enough electronegativity to take the other elements valence electrons. Take H2O for example, The oxygen atom does not have enough electronegativity to take the hydrogens' valence electrons, so they share them instead.

[ThePustr117]

@Daski69 If I read your question correctly, I think I can help you. In an ionic bond, a metallic element has lost one or more electrons to a gaseous element and combine due to electric forces. In a covalent bond, two or more elements combine by sharing electrons, and that is what keeps atoms in a covalent bond together. Note that in a covalent bond, no electrons are being lost or gained, only shared.