Ionic Bonds Virtual Lab

Sodium is a soft, silvery metal that reacts violently with water and air. Chlorine is a
poisonous gas used to kill bacteria in swimming pools and drinking supplies. If ingested,
each could cause a quick and painful death. But together, sodium and chlorine form salt, a
necessary nutrient for all living things! How can these two dangerous substances combine
to form a harmless crystalline solid?

The answer lies in ionic bonds. Sodium is highly reactive because it has a single outer
electron, called a valence electron, that is easily lost. Chlorine, on the other hand, has a
strong tendency to gain an electron. When atoms gain or lose electrons, they become
charged atoms called ions. Ions with opposite charges are attracted to one another and form
ionic bonds. When sodium and chlorine form an ionic bond, the result is the stable, non-
reactive substance we know as salt.

Forming Ionic Bonds

In this activity, you will discover how the electron arrangements of atoms determine their
ability to form bonds.

All answers must be in complete sentence form in order to receive credit!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the Gizmo™, observe the red sodium atom and blue chlorine atom in the
SIMULATION pane. Click Play ( ), and observe the electrons orbiting the nucleus
of each atom.

1. In the Gizmo, only the outermost electrons, or valence electrons, are shown.

a. How many electrons are visible on the sodium atom?

b. On the chlorine atom?

2. Sodium has a total of 11 electrons, and chlorine has a total of 17.

a. How many electrons are NOT shown on each atom?

Hint: (These electrons are found on the first two energy levels.
The first level has 2 electrons and the second has 8.)

Some atoms give up electrons quite easily, and some do not. Try clicking and
dragging an electron away from each atom.

3. Which atom easily gives up its valence electron(s)?

Atoms that easily lose their valence electrons are called metals.
Drag the electron from the sodium atom to the chlorine atom. (If the electrons are
moving too fast, adjust the Speed slider or click Pause ( ).)

4. The tendency of an atom to attract electrons is called electron affinity. Atoms

that have a strong electron affinity (and therefore tend to gain electrons) are
called nonmetals. Metals have a low electron affinity, which explains their
tendency to lose valence electrons.

a. Which atom has a greater electron affinity?

b. How many valence electrons does the sodium atom appear to have now?

c. How many valence electrons does the chlorine atom have now?

5. Atoms are most stable when their outermost energy level is full of electrons. The
third energy level of the sodium atom is now empty. Therefore, the second level
is now the outermost, with eight electrons.

a. Are both atoms currently in a stable configuration?

6. A normal sodium atom has eleven protons, each with a positive charge. It also has
eleven electrons, each negatively charged so that the atom is neutral.

a. After losing an electron, what do you think is the charge of the sodium atom?
Write down your hypothesis.
7. Before gaining an electron, the chlorine atom had 17 protons and 17 electrons.

a. What is the charge of the chlorine atom now? (Write this down, then check
your hypotheses by clicking the Show charge checkbox.)

b. Were you correct? Charged atoms are called ions.

Ions with opposite charges are attracted to one another, forming an ionic bond.
To represent this bond, click on the nucleus of the sodium ion and drag it closer
to the chlorine ion. Click Check.

8. What is the name of the substance you created?

If you wish, you can take a screenshot of your compound. To do this, click the camera
icon and paste the image into a blank document.

9. Click Show formula. What is the chemical formula of sodium chloride?

10. Click Show completed compounds. A list of formulas that you have completed
correctly will appear here. Write these down.

Choose Lithium (Li) from the Select a metal menu and Oxygen (O) from the
Select a nonmetal menu. Count the number of valence electrons in each atom.

11. Transfer the valence electron from the lithium atom to the oxygen atom.

a. How many valence electrons does the oxygen atom have now?

b. Is the oxygen atom stable? When you have finished, click Check.

The oxygen atom needs 8 valence electrons to reach stability. To provide an

additional electron, click Add metal. When the new lithium atom appears,
transfer the remaining electron.

12. Is the oxygen atom stable now?

a. Why or why not?

b. What is the formula of lithium oxide?

Click the Show charge checkbox. Notice that each lithium ion has a 1+ charge,
while the oxygen ion has a 2− charge.

c. What is the total charge of the three ions?

Because the positive charges of each lithium atom repel one another, the lithium
atoms will be found on opposite sides of the oxygen atom.
 Try several combinations of metals and nonmetals. Transfer electrons from the
metal atoms to the nonmetal atoms. If the metal atom has one or more electrons
left over, click Add nonmetal to add an additional nonmetal atom. If the nonmetal
has additional spaces to fill, click Add metal. Extra atoms can be dragged to the
Trash icon and eliminated, or you can start over by clicking Reset ( ). Once all
electrons have been transferred, rearrange the atoms to show the attraction
between positive ions and negative ions.

12. What is the formula when the metal has 2 valence electrons and the nonmetal has 7?
(For example, what is the formula of magnesium fluoride?)

13. What is the formula when the metal has 2 valence electrons and the nonmetal has 5?
(For example, beryllium and nitrogen.)

Try the remaining combinations of metals and nonmetals. For each that you do, write
down a predicted formula based on the numbers of valence electrons. Then, use the Gizmo
to check your answer. (Do at least 5)

Chemical Families

In the periodic table, elements are grouped by their chemical properties. These groups, also
called families, are determined by the valence electrons.

Obtain a periodic table. (If you don't have one handy, you can print one from the
Electron Configuration Gizmo.) Each column in the periodic table is a family of
elements with similar properties.

14. In the Gizmo, select Lithium (Li) from the list of metals.

a. How many valence electrons does lithium have?

15. According to the periodic table, what other element (from the Select a metal menu) is
in the same chemical family?

16. How many valence electrons do you think this other element has?

Use the Gizmo to check your answer.

17. How many valence electrons would you expect for potassium (K), rubidium (Rb),
and cesium (Cs)?

Try finding other pairs of elements from the same family in the Gizmo.
18. What patterns do you see?

Notice that the elements in group 18 of the periodic table are not found in this Gizmo.
These elements are called noble gases and do not readily react to form compounds. Based
on the periodic table and what you have seen in the Gizmo,

19. How many valence electrons do most noble gases have?

20. Why don't these gases form ionic bonds?

When Dmitri Mendeleev first published his periodic table in 1869, nothing was known
about valence electrons. Instead, Mendeleev used chemical properties to group elements
together.

In the Gizmo, create a compound of lithium and oxygen.

21. What is the formula of lithium oxide?

Create a compound of sodium and oxygen.

22. What is the formula of sodium oxide?

23. How is this formula similar to lithium oxide?

Create a compound of beryllium and oxygen.

24. Based on this formula, what do you think the formula of magnesium oxide will be?
Use the Gizmo to check your answer.

Create a compound of aluminum and oxygen.

25. What is the formula of aluminum oxide?

26. What would you predict the formula of gallium oxide to be?
27. Based on the patterns you observed, what is the formula of:

strontium bromide (Sr and Br)?

Gallium phosphide (Ga and P)?

Cesium telluride (Cs and Te)?

In general, what do elements from the same family have in common?