Ionic Bond Strength

[Autessa Anoosheh 3E]

I know that ionic bonds are weaker in water, so when they are not in water are ionic bonds stronger than covalent bonds?

[Katelyn Alvarado 3K]

Yes, when they are not in water ionic bonds are much stronger than covalent bonds because the atoms assemble into very tightly packed crystals which take a lot of energy to break. They are only considered weaker than covalent bonds when they are in solution.

[Quynhanh Nguyen 1C]

Hey there!

In LS7A, we were told that covalent bonds are stronger than ionic bonds because, in biology, we study bonds with water due to the nature of life. Ionic bonds are split into their respective ions in water, so they are considered weaker in the context of biology.

In chemistry, however, ionic bonds are considered stronger because of their tightly packed, crystal lattice structure. Hope that helps!

[Sanskriti Balaji 1J]

Hi! Yes, ionic bonds are weaker than covalent bonds in water. However, ionic bonds are stronger than covalent bonds in almost every other scenario due to Coulombic attraction between ions of opposite charges!

[Neeti Indiresan 3I]

The reason why ionic bonds are weaker in water is because water is polar, meaning it has partial charges that attract the ions and cause them to dissolve. Since this is not an issue outside of water, ionic bonds are much stronger than covalent bonds.

[Leo Chang 2H]

Hi,

The concept of bond strength is relative to specific scenarios. This is why ionic bonds are considered weaker than covalent bonds in water, as the ion-ion interaction is relatively weak when water is involved (as the self-equilibrium of water produces hydronium and hydroxide ions to be present which interact with the ions).

On the other hand, when an aqueous environment is not present, ionic bonds are typically stronger than covalent bonds because the electronegativity difference between the cation (metal) and anion (non-metal) is high; this leads to strong Coulombic attractions and lattice structures.

I hope this helps!

[305607822]

Hi,
That is very interesting, why does water cause ionic bonds to break apart so easily? Is it because O has a high electronegativity?

[Jaden Nguyen 2A]

The scenarios in which ionic bonds are stronger than covalent bonds is always when they aren’t in water. The reason for this is that large quantities of an ionic compound will form a crystal lattice structure, which requires a large amount of energy, typically in the form of heat to break these bonds. Ionic bonds are weak in water because of water’s polarity. The cations and anions of the ionic compound will be attracted to the negative and positive ends of the water, hence why ionic compounds dissolved in water.