ionic and covalent character

[danielruiz1G]

when seeing if a bond is ionic or covalent with the few exceptions is there a way to figure this out or do we just have to know the exceptions

[Perla Cervantes_1G]

Ionic bonds have shared electrons and weaker bonds
Covalent bonds have transferred electrons and and stronger bonds

*if the electronegativity is less than 1.67 it is usually considered covalent, and if greater, then ionic

** The farther apart the elements on the periodic table, the larger the electronegativity difference, the more ionic the bond, the more polar the bond and the stronger the bond.

[Chem_Mod]

Covalent has shared electrons and ionic bonds have unequal sharing of electrons(hence, ions or charged species)

[Mariah Guerrero 1J]

So when determining if a molecule is ionic or covalent, it is not always/only dependent on the electronegativity difference? For example, MgI2 has a electronegativity difference of 1.3 (which is smaller than 1.67, the rule to be a covalent bond). However, MgI2 is an ionic bond right?

[Jennifer Tuell 1B]

Ionic Character has more to do with Electronegativity because the greater the difference in electronegativity the more similar the covalent bond is to an ionic one because the charges are distributed unevenly to a greater degree. Covalent Character has more to do with Polarizability which relates to atomic and Ionic radius. An atom has more polarizing power when it is smaller and has a greater charge because it is easier to distort the electron cloud and attract electrons and an atom is more polarizable when it is larger and less negative because its electron cloud is easier to distort and lose electrons.

[vivianndo_1L]

Heteronuclear atoms with an electronegativity difference:
-of >2 are considered mainly ionic bonds
-of <1.5 are considered mainly covalent bonds

What about the range inbetween? Is it difficult to tell when the number is between 1.5 and 2 (acts as a gray area and determining bonds depends on a host of other factrs?)

[Andre-1H]

I'm pretty sure determining this revolves around electronegativity. For ionic bonds the covalent character can be determined by polarizing power and polarizability but even then those originate from the atom's electronegativity in the first place so I'm not too sure if there is anything but knowing trends in electronegativity that apply to the character of a bond.

[juliaschreib1A]

As electronegativity increases, does ionic or covalent character increase? What is the reasoning for this?