Three characteristics of ionic compounds you might have listed are that they are electrically neutral, dissolve only in polar solvents, and, as solids, are hard and brittle. Common table salt ( N a C l NaCl N a Cl) forms this way, but so do ionic lattices such as:Ĭopper (II) sulfate ( C u S O 4 ( H 2 O ) x CuS N a H C O 3 (baking soda). Ionic compounds form crystalline structures called crystal lattices. Ions with net positive charges are called cations, pronounced “cat-ions.” Metals are commonly cations. Ions that are negatively charged are called anions, pronounced “an-ions.” Common anions are non-metals. A good example is the ammonium ion made up of one nitrogen atom and four hydrogen atoms. Polyatomic ions are ions comprised of more than one atom. Two-element ionic compounds and polyatomic ionic compounds are equally common. Ionic compounds are electrically neutral and can form from just a few atoms (ions) or from large numbers of atoms (ions). Most atoms join by covalent bonding, in which shared electrons form directional bonds. Ionic compounds are pure substances formed from chemically bonded ions. Atoms lose and gain electrons as they react to become more stable. The number of electrons lost or gained determines the ion's charge.

Ion – An atom that has gained or lost an electron, creating a charged particle that is either positive (more protons than electrons) or negative (more electrons than protons) Nucleus – The center of every atom, consisting of positively charged protons and neutral neutronsĮlectron – The tiny, negatively charged particle orbiting the nucleus in the electron cloud and held to the atom by the positive-negative attraction between it and the nucleus’s proton Covalent compounds usually form from two nonmetals. Writing and balancing net ionic equations can be challenging but if you carefully follow the correct steps you will be successful. Compounds that do not contain ions, but instead consist of atoms bonded tightly together in molecules (uncharged groups of atoms that behave as a single unit), are called covalent compounds. Let’s review some basics of atomic structure: Ionic compounds generally form from metals and nonmetals. To fully understand ionic compounds, we need to understand what ionic compounds are composed of. What is an ionic compound What are ionic compounds made of? Some minor electron sharing always occurs, but the compound is chiefly formed by ions.

Ionic compounds are pure substances formed primarily by positive and negative ion attraction.

Molecular vs ionic