CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

Just to clarify, the way we distinguish between whether a compund is bonded "covalently" or "ionically" is to see if the atoms in the compound are bonded metals to nonmetal(ionic) or nonmetal to nonmetal (covalent)? Sorry this is such a terribly worded question, I hope you guys can still understand what I'm trying to get at.

Yes, exactly! Also, note that elements in ionic compounds give and take electrons from each other, while elements in covalent compounds share electrons.

You're correct! You can also compare the electronegativities of the of the atoms involved in the bond. If the difference between their electronegativities is greater than 1.6, then the bond is ionic.

Yep! With that being said you can use the periodic table to determine what bond two elements will likely make

Generally yes. Just remember that ionic bonds result in "giving away" or "reviewing" electrons and covalent bonds result in sharing electrons

Yeah you're right, I think it also has to do with whether or not the electrons are shared between the atoms or just taken from one to the other as well.

You are correct! Also, in covalent bonds the electrons are shared, while they are not shared in ionic bonds.

Your understanding is correct. Basically ionic bonds are formed between metals are nonmetals, and covalent bonds are formed between nonmetals and nonmetals. In an ionic bond electrons are transferred and ions are formed. In a covalent bond electrons are shared.