Ionic or covalent?
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Ionic or covalent?
How do we figure out if the compound is ionic or covalent without looking at the electronegativity?
Re: Ionic or covalent?
If a compound is made from a metal and a non-metal, its bonding will usually be ionic and if it’s made from two non-metals, its bonding should be covalent
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Re: Ionic or covalent?
Usually, the elements at either end of the periodic table, when bonded together, form ionic bonds because it is easier for the electrons to be transferred due to the number of valence electrons they have. On the other hand, covalent bonds form between elements that cannot transfer electrons but instead share them.
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Re: Ionic or covalent?
An ionic compound is usually made from a metal and a non-metal, and a covalent/molecular compound is usually made from two non-metals. Sometimes you can determine ionic or covalent bonds by how far apart horizontally the elements are placed on the periodic table - the farther they are suggests greater electronegativity difference which can suggest that the bond between them would be ionic, and vice versa.
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Re: Ionic or covalent?
KeyaV3A wrote:If a compound is made from a metal and a non-metal, its bonding will usually be ionic and if it’s made from two non-metals, its bonding should be covalent
how do metalloids play into that, though?
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Re: Ionic or covalent?
Elizabeth Johnson 1I wrote:KeyaV3A wrote:If a compound is made from a metal and a non-metal, its bonding will usually be ionic and if it’s made from two non-metals, its bonding should be covalent
how do metalloids play into that, though?
good question, from what I've read metalloids have external properties of a metal (or can be induced to act as a metal) but have chemical properties of a non-metal, so they'd form covalent bonds. I'd bet that the bonds qualify as ionic if the electronegativity difference is great enough, though.
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Re: Ionic or covalent?
Normally ionic bonds happen between elements far from each other on the periodic table, with a metal and nonmetal. Covalent bonds are everything else
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Re: Ionic or covalent?
Ionic compounds usually have charges and include metals with nonmetals, while covalent compounds are mostly nonmetals.
Re: Ionic or covalent?
Will we have to know the actual values of electronegativity to determine the minute differences? I assume probably not..
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Re: Ionic or covalent?
Leila_4E wrote:Will we have to know the actual values of electronegativity to determine the minute differences? I assume probably not..
My TA informed us that if electronegativity differences were asked to be determined/we needed to determine if bonds were covalent or ionic in order to draw a Lewis structure, the electronegativity values for the elements in question would be provided for us on the exam.
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Re: Ionic or covalent?
A bond is ionic typically if the difference between 2 element's electronegativity is greater than 2, and a bond is covalent if the difference in electronegativity is less than 1.5. Many bonds however are partially ionic although they're still considered covalent. These bonds have dipole moments and one side of the compound is still more negative.
Re: Ionic or covalent?
A bond is normally ionic if the two atoms are on the far left and far right of the periodic table. Knowing the trends of the periodic table, one can assume that if two elements are near each other, they must have similar electronegativities, and thus would form a covalent bond.
Re: Ionic or covalent?
Leila_4E wrote:Will we have to know the actual values of electronegativity to determine the minute differences? I assume probably not..
I was told that we do not, but it might help when trying to figure it out. I think it just depends on your understanding.
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Re: Ionic or covalent?
If the compounds are very far apart on the periodic table then they are ionic, if they are close to each other they are covalent
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Re: Ionic or covalent?
An ionic bond is typically comprised of a non metal and a metal while a covalent bond is usually two non metals.
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