Head to www.savemyexams.

com for more awesome resources

CIE AS Chemistry Your notes

3.2 Ionic Bonding

Contents
Ionic Bonding
Ionic Bonding Examples

Page 1 of 10

© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Ionic Bonding
Your notes
Defining Ionic Bonding
As a general rule, metals are on the left of the Periodic Table and nonmetals are on the right-hand side
Ionic bonding involves the transfer of electrons from a metallic element to a non-metallic element
Transferring electrons usually leaves the metal and the non-metal with a full outer shell
Metals lose electrons from their valence shell forming positively charged cations
Formation of cations

Cations are formed by the removal of electrons from metals

Non-metal atoms gain electrons forming negatively charged anions
Once the atoms become ions, their electronic configurations are the same as a stable noble gas.
A potassium ion (K+) has the same electronic configuration as argon: [2,8,8]+
A chloride ion (Cl-) also has the same electronic configuration as argon: [2,8,8]-

Page 2 of 10

© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Formation of anions
Your notes

Anions are formed by the addition of electrons to nonmetals

Cations and anions are oppositely charged and therefore attracted to each other
Electrostatic attractions are formed between the oppositely charged ions to form ionic compounds
The ionic bond is the electrostatic attraction formed between the oppositely charged ions, which
occurs in all directions
This form of attraction is very strong and requires a lot of energy to overcome
This causes high melting points in ionic compounds
Using cations and anions to form ionic compounds

Page 3 of 10

© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Your notes

Cations and anions bond together using strong electrostatic forces, which require a lot of energy to
overcome
The ions form a lattice structure which is an evenly distributed crystalline structure
Ions in a lattice are arranged in a regular repeating pattern so that positive charges cancel out negative
charges
The attraction between the cations and anions is occurring in all directions
Each ion is attracted to all of the oppositely charged ions around it
Therefore the final lattice is overall electrically neutral
A general ionic lattice

Page 4 of 10

© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Your notes

Ionic solids are arranged in lattice structures with alternating cations and anions

Exam Tip
Metals usually lose all electrons from their outer valence shell to become cations.
You can make use of the groups on the Periodic Table to work out how many electrons an atom is
likely to lose or gain by looking at the group an atom belongs to.
The electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions is the ionic bond.

Page 5 of 10

© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Ionic Bonding Examples

Your notes
Examples of Ionic Bonding
Sodium chloride
Sodium is a Group 1 metal
It loses its outer electron to form a sodium ion with a +1 charge (Na+)
Chlorine is a Group 7 non-metal
It gains 1 electron to form a chloride ion with a -1 charge (Cl-)
The oppositely charged ions are attracted to each other by electrostatic forces to form NaCl (ionic
bonds)
The final ionic solid is neutral in charge
Dot and cross diagram to show the ionic bonding in sodium chloride

Sodium gives its one outer electron to chlorine forming the ionic compound, sodium chloride
Magnesium oxide
Magnesium is a Group 2 metal
It loses its 2 outer electrons to form a magnesium ion with a +2 charge (Mg2+)
Oxygen is a Group 6 non-metal
It gains 2 electrons to form an oxide ion with a -2 charge (O2-)
The oppositely charged ions are attracted to each other to by electrostatic forces to form MgO (ionic
bonds)
The final ionic solid is neutral in charge

Page 6 of 10

© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Dot and cross diagram to show the ionic bonding in magnesium oxide
Your notes

Magnesium gives both outer electrons to oxygen forming the ionic compound, magnesium oxide
Calcium fluoride
Calcium is a Group 2 metal
It loses its 2 outer electrons to form a calcium ion with a +2 charge (Ca2+)
Fluorine is a Group 7 non-metal
It gains 1 electron to form a fluoride ion with a -1 charge (F-)
As before, the positive and negative ions are attracted to each other via an ionic bond
However, to cancel out the 2+ charge of the calcium ion, 2 fluorine atoms are needed
Each fluorine atom can only accept 1 electron from the calcium atom
2 fluoride ions will be formed
Calcium fluoride is made when 1 calcium ion and 2 fluoride ions form ionic bonds, CaF2
The final ionic solid of CaF2 is neutral in charge
Dot and cross diagram to show the ionic bonding in calcium fluoride

Page 7 of 10

© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Your notes

Calcium gives away both outer electrons. Each fluorine receives one of those electrons forming the
ionic compound, calcium fluoride

Page 8 of 10

© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Worked example
Your notes
Dot & cross lithium nitride
Draw a dot and cross diagram for lithium nitride, Li3N.
Answer
Lithium is a Group 1 metal
It loses its outer electron to form a lithium ion with a +1 charge (Li+)
Nitrogen is a Group 5 non-metal
It gains 3 electrons to form a nitride ion with a -3 charge (N3-)
To cancel out the -3 charge of the nitride ion, 3 lithium atoms are needed and 3 lithium ions will be
formed
Lithium nitride is made when 1 nitride ion and 3 lithium ions form ionic bonds
The final ionic solid of Li3N is neutral in charge:

Page 9 of 10

© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Worked example
Your notes
Dot & cross aluminium oxide
Draw a dot and cross diagram for aluminium oxide, Al2O3.
Answer
Aluminium is a Group 3 metal
It loses its outer electrons to form an aluminium ion with a +3 charge (Al3+)
Oxygen is a Group 6 non-metal
It gains 2 electrons to form an oxide ion with a -2 charge (O2-)
To cancel out the negative and positive charges, 2 aluminium and 3 oxygen atoms are needed
Aluminium oxide is made when 2 aluminium ions and 3 oxygen ions form ionic bonds
The final ionic solid of Al2O3 is neutral in charge:

Page 10 of 10

© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers