Ionic Vs. Covalent

[LexyDenaburg_3A]

Can someone explain the main difference between ionic and covalent bonds?

[DanielHong2L]

Can someone explain the main difference between ionic and covalent bonds?

Simply put

Ionic: give / take of electrons
Covalent: sharing of electron pairs

If you wanna know a bit more I'm happy to do so lmk

[Jay Solanki 3A]

To add, ionic bonds usually form between a metal and a nonmetal, while covalent bonds usually form between nonmetals only. Hope this helps!

[BaileyB1F]

An example of an ionic bond is NaCl (sodium chloride), sodium loses an electron because that electron is in the outermost shell making it Na+ and this means chlorine takes that electron making it Cl-. An example of a covalent bond is H2O (water), oxygen and hydrogen share their electrons.

[Eliot Kagan 2G]

To add on, ionic bonds are held together by the charges of the whole atom while covalent bonds are held together by their shared electron.

[Jessie Hsu 1C]

Also, the reason why ionic bonds form by giving/taking electrons is because the atoms have a big difference in electronegativity, the tendency for an atom to attract electrons.
Here is something I found online:
1. If the electronegativity difference (usually called ΔEN) is less than 0.5, then the bond is nonpolar covalent.
2. If the ΔEN is between 0.5 and 1.6, the bond is considered polar covalent
3. If the ΔEN is greater than 2.0, then the bond is ionic.

https://www.chemteam.info/Bonding/Elect ... 20covalent.

[BrittneyMyint1D]

Hi, as everyone as said, ionic bonds are formed through the transfer of electrons. Metals tend to lose the electrons (and become cations) while nonmetals gain the electrons (and become anions). An example of this would be NaCl. Covalent bonds are formed through the sharing of electrons, which are between nonmetals. An example of this would be CH4. Hope this helps!

[Kyle Dizon 3A]

Essentially, covalent bonds often share electrons between other elements while the ionic bonds simply take or give electrons off depending on the situation.