6.

Ionic Bonding
Aims
To understand what are ionic and covalent
bonding. To know how these different
types of bonding affect the melting and
boiling points.

Keywords
Ionic bonding, covalent bonding.
 Learning Outcomes
By the end of the lesson you ……be able to:
Must (Grade E/F): State what ionic bonding is.
Should (Grade C/D): Explain the differences
between ionic and covalent bonding.
Could (Grade B/C): Predict what this shows
about the melting and boiling points of
different types of bonding.
 Starter
What are the chemical symbols for:
Calcium
Oxygen
Sodium
Iron
Copper
Carbon
 Full electron shells
Each shell has a maximum number of electrons that it can
hold. Electrons will fill the shells nearest the nucleus first.
2nd shell holds
1st shell holds a maximum of
a maximum of 8 electrons
2 electrons

3rd shell holds

a maximum of
8 electrons
Atoms of noble gases have completely full outer shells.
This makes them very unreactive or stable.
 Ions
An ion is formed when an atom gains or loses electrons and
becomes charged:

- The electron is negatively charged

+
The proton is positively charged

+
If we “take away” the electron
we’re left with just a positive +
charge:

This is called an ion (in this case, a positive hydrogen ion)

 Simple Ions
Cations Anions
Sodium – Na+ Chloride – Cl-
Magnesium – Mg2+ Sulphate – SO42-
Iron – Fe3+ Carbonate – CO32-
Copper – Cu2+ Oxide – O2-
 Practical: Reactions of Mg, Fe and Cu

Substance Appearance Before Appearance after

Magnesium

Copper

Iron

Calcium reacts with oxygen in air to form calcium oxide.

Calcium + oxygen → calcium oxide
Ca + O2 → CaO
Write the word and symbol equations for what is formed with the
elements above.
 Ionic compounds
Compounds that contain ions are called ionic compounds.
These compounds are usually formed by a reaction between
a metal and a non-metal.

Why do these substances react?

Both the metal and non-metal atoms have incomplete outer
electron shells and so are unstable.

One or more electrons are transferred from each metal atom

to each non-metal atom. The metal and the non-metal atoms
end up with completely full outer shells and become very
stable.
The positive and negative ions are strongly attracted to each
other. This electrostatic attraction is called an ionic bond.
Ionic Bonding Diagrams
Aluminium Oxide Structure
 Plenary
Answer the following questions T or F:
T
1. An ion is formed when an atom gains or losses
electrons.
F
2. An example of a cation is sulphate SO4 . 2-

3. A positive metal ion is formed when electrons are lost

from the metal atom. T
4. Ionic bonding is between a positive metal ion called a
T
cation and a negative non-metal ion called an anion. It
is the electrostatic attraction between these two ions.
5. Properties of ionic compounds are that they have low
melting points, non-conductors of electricity when
molten.
F