Essay On Ionic Bonding

Ionic bonding is the attraction between an a metal cation and a non-metal anion. The opposite charges of the metal cation and nonmetal anions attract each other electrostatically, unlike like charges which repel each other, to form an ionic bond. In order to have a stable electron configuration, metal atoms lose their valence electrons and transfers the electrons to a nonmetal atom, which receives as many as it requires to achieve the eight valence electrons the noble gases possess: this property is called the octet rule. Non-metals form negative ions, as it is more efficient for these elements to gain electrons rather than lose them. This is the opposite for metals, as it is faster for them to lose their electrons to achieve the same electron

The high melting and boiling points are attributed to ionic compounds forming ionic lattices, in which the ions arrange in a regular pattern to form crystals. The ions surround themselves with as many oppositely charged ions as possible, therefore the bonds are therefore difficult to break. The bonds require a high energy level in the form of relatively high temperatures to break apart.

Although melting and boiling ionic compounds require high energy, most ionic compounds are soluble in water. The ions of within the compound reacts with water (H2O), which energy is able to break the ionic bond as well as the water molecules. The ionic compound and water react as water is a polar molecule, meaning that there is a negative charge surrounding the Oxygen atom and a positive charge surrounding the Hydrogen atoms. The ionic compound dissociates in the water, the metal cations become attracted to the slight negative charge of Oxygen, and the nonmetal anions become attracted to the slight positive charge of Hydrogen. Therefore the ionic compounds, composed of cations and anions, react with the positive and negative charges on the H2O molecule. Ionic compounds however cannot be dissolved in nonpolar solutes, as there are no negative or positive charges to the molecules within the solute to attract the ions within the

Metals have high melting and boiling points because the attraction between the delocalised electrons and the metal cations are strong, therefore it takes higher levels of heat energy in order to break to break the bond. One exception for this physical property is Mercury (Hg), which has a melting point of -38.83℃ and a boiling point of 356.73℃ which means that it is in liquid state at room temperature. The malleability of metals is due to the cations (also called kernels) that are able to slide across the mobile delocalised electrons without bonds being broken when force is applied, as the metal cations are not locked in a particular arrangement as ionic compounds are in. Metals are lustrous because the delocalised electrons absorbs photons from light, in which they jump to the next energy level, vibrating at an energy level that equates to visible