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O & A levels Chemistry By SOJ

Topic: Ionic Bonding

Why we Need a chemical bond?

Atoms of many elements are unstable, i.e. their valence (outermost) shell is incomplete. Atoms try to
complete their ‘duplet’ or ‘octet’, and for this many of them either gain or lose electrons.’

Ionic Bonding:
The transfer of electrons causes atoms to become charged, either positively or negatively; these charged
atoms are called ‘ions’. “It is the force of attraction between oppositely charged ions together in a
molecule. This is known as ionic bonding”.

Note: Ionic bonding occurs generally between metals of group I and II, and non-metals of groups VI and
VII. This is because of their configurations.

Formation:

Let us take the element sodium, which has the configuration 2,8,1. It has 1 electron in its outermost shell.
If it loses that electron, it will achieve stability. However, it could also gain 7 electrons and achieve that
goal. Compare losing the one electron to gaining SEVEN electrons; what would be easier? Obviously
losing the one it already has. So a metal (Group I and II) will always go for losing its valence electrons,
gaining a positive charge. A positively charged ion is known as a cation. Remember, metals always form
cations.
Now let us consider Chlorine. It has the configuration 2,8,7. It needs to gain either 1 electron to complete
its octet, or needs to lose 7 of its own electrons. Again, the easier solution would be to gain the one
instead of losing the seven, so it will gain, unlike metals. So, non-metals generally gain electrons to
achieve stability, forming negatively charged ions (anions).

You see in the above examples that Sodium loses 1 electron, while Chlorine gains 1. Where does the lost
electron go, and where does the gained electron come from? You see, the sodium atom gives an electron
to anyone willing to take it, and if we are reacting sodium and chlorine together, the chlorine accepts the
atom that sodium is giving. There is an exchange of electrons, and opposite charges are formed (+1 on
sodium and -1 on chlorine), causing ‘electrostatic attraction’ between them that holds them together, and
thus an ionic bond is formed.

This can be shown by a dot and cross diagram.

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you can see that electrons of Na are represented by crosses, and electrons of Cl by dots. The electron that
Cl gains from Na is also represented by a cross, to show that a transfer took place. The bond is then
formed due to the attraction between opposite charges.
In O levels, ionic bonds are usually shown in this way.

This new compound is totally different from its products. It is called Sodium Chloride (NaCl), also
known as common salt in daily language. Compounds formed by ionic bonding are called ionic
compounds, therefore NaCl is an ionic compound.

Note: NaCl was just an example to explain the main concept of ionic bonds. There are many more
examples other than this. Also, Na and Cl do not always bond together.

Other Examples:
I mentioned earlier that Group I, II, VI and VII elements take part in ionic bonding. Aluminium (Group
III) forms some ionic compounds as well. Let us look at some more examples of Ionic Compounds.

In the above example, you can see that Magnesium (Group II) can lose two electrons, so two chlorine
atoms are needed to complete this bond. A +2 charge is formed on Mg atom, while a -1 charge comes on
both the Cl atoms, as each gains one electron.

Fig : Ionic Bonding in MgCl2.

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O & A levels Chemistry By SOJ

Fig 7.4. Ionic Bonding in MgO.

In the above example, you can see that Magnesium must lose two electrons, while Oxygen must gain two.
So Magnesium gives both its electrons (gaining a +2 charge) to Oxygen, which accepts (gaining a -2
charge). So, Magnesium Oxide (MgO) is formed.

Structure:
Ionic Compounds form giant ionic structures, called giant lattice structure or crystal lattice. Let us, again,
take the example of NaCl, which forms a cubic lattice.

Fig: Cubic Lattice of NaCl.

In a cubic lattice, each Na+ is bonded to six Cl-, and each Cl- is in turn bonded to six Na+. No two Na+ ions
are placed together, and no two Cl- ions are placed together. This is why the structure is so strong; there is
attraction from every side which makes it difficult for ions to break apart.
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Chemical Formulae:

The formula of an ionic compound is constructed by balancing the charges on the positive ions with those
on the negative ions. The positive charges must equal the negative charges. For example, in Sodium
Chloride, Sodium (whose symbol is Na) has charge +1, while Chlorine (whose symbol is Cl) has charge -
1. So 1 Na needs 1 Cl, therefore the chemical formula “NaCl”.

Now, let’s consider Magnesium Oxide. Mg has +2 charge, while O has -2 charge. There is 1 to 1 ratio
between the ions, so the chemical formula is MgO.

But what happens when there isn’t a 1 to 1 ratio? Let us take Aluminium Oxide. Al has the charge +3,
while O has the charge -2. The following way is adopted then.

Fig: Determining Chemical Formula by cross multiplying charges.

The subscript after each symbol represents the number of atoms of that element in each bond of a
compound. Here, we can see that in Al2O3, two Al3+ ions join with three O2- ions to form a complete bond

The above strategy may be adopted for determining the chemical formula of any ionic compound.
Remember, in 1-to-1 ratio, the numbers cancel out. Like in MgO, it should be actually Mg2O2, but the 2s
cancel out, and we don’t write 1 in any chemical formula.
Physical Properties:

● Most ionic compounds have high melting and boiling points.

● They are usually soluble in water.
● They are usually insoluble in organic solvents.
● They do not conduct electricity in their solid state. However, they do conduct electricity in their
aqueous or molten state. This is because ions are free to move around when in aqueous or molten
states.