ionic vs. covalent character

[Erica Li 1C]

I was wondering what the difference between a molecule with high ionic character vs. high covalent character was?

[gillianozawa4I]

High ionic character means that there is a large difference in electronegativity between the two atoms. The ionic character of a covalent bond means that electrons are not attracted equally between the two atoms. High covalent character in an ionic bond means that electrons are partially shared and the difference in electronegativity is smaller.

[Tuong Nguyen 2I]

I agree with Gillian. It's also important to understand that molecules that we consider one or the other will also display characteristics of the other, just to different extents.

[Matthew Mar 1J]

Ionic and covalent character also influence the physical characteristics of molecules. For example, compounds with higher ionic character generally exhibit higher melting points and are more conductive while compounds with more covalent character are the reverse.