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General Chemistry 100 1st Quarter, 1st Semester

Instructor: Jay M. Cavan Lecture Notes No. 5

Topics: Chemical Bonding: Ionic Bonds

I. Ionic Bonding and Ionic Compounds
II. Formulas and Names of Ionic Compounds
III. Structure and Properties of Ionic Compounds

Learning Competencies:
At the end of the session, the students will be able to:
I. Determine the charge of the ions formed by the representative elements and
relate this to their ionization energy or electron affinity, valence electron
configuration and position in the periodic table
II. Name ionic compounds given their formula and write formula given the name of
the ionic compounds
III. List the properties of ionic compounds and explain these properties in terms
of their structure

Concepts:

Scientists rarely encounter free isolated atoms. Under

normal conditions of temperature and pressure, they nearly
always find atoms associated in aggregates or clusters
ranging in size from two atoms to numbers too large to count.

Chemical bond is the attractive force that holds two atoms

together in a more complex unit. Chemical bonds form as a
result of interactions between electrons found in the
combining atoms. Thus, the nature of chemical bonds is
closely linked to electron configurations. The types of
chemical bonds are metallic bond, ionic bond and covalent
bonds.

There are two concepts fundamental to understanding chemical bonding.

1. Not all electrons in an atom participate in bonding. Those that do are called valence
electrons.
• Valence electron is an electron in the outermost electron shell of a
representative element or noble-gas element.1 This electron is important in

1 Note the restriction on the use of this definition. The book of Stoker did not consider in
the text the more complicated valence electron definitions for transition elements or inner
transition elements.
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determining the bonding characteristics of a given atom. Below are the three
important generalizations about valence electrons.
o Representative elements in the same group of the periodic table
have the same number of valence electrons.
o The number of valence electrons for representative elements is the
same as the Roman numeral periodic-table group number.
o The maximum number of valence electrons for any element is eight.

• Lewis symbol is the chemical symbol of an element surrounded by dots

equal in number to the number of valence electrons present in atoms of the
element. This is a shorthand system for designating the number of valence
electrons present in atoms of an element. The general practice in writing
Lewis symbols is to place first four dots separately on the four sides of the
chemical symbol and then begin pairing the dots as further dots are added.
It makes no difference on which side of the symbol the process of adding
the dots begins.
2. Certain arrangements of electrons are more stable than others, as is explained by
the octet rule.
• Octet rule states that in forming compounds, atoms of elements lose, gain,
or share electrons in such a way as to produce a noble-gas electron
configuration for each of the atoms involved. The valence electron
configurations of noble gases are considered the most stable of all valence
electron configurations with eight valence electrons, except helium.
Helium 1s2
Neon 1s2 2s2 2p6
Argon 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6
Krypton 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6
Xenon 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6
Radon 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14 5d10 6p6
The conclusion that ns2np6 configuration (1s2 for helium) is the most stable of all
valence electron configuration is based on the chemical properties of the noble gases.
The noble gases are the most unreactive of all the elements. They have little or no
tendency to form bonds to another atoms.
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I. Ionic Bonding and Ionic Compounds

Electron transfer between two or more atoms is central to the ionic bond model.
• Ionic bond is a chemical bond formed through the transfer of one or more electrons
from one atom or group of atoms to another atom or group of atoms. Ionic
compound is a compound in which ionic bonds are present. The electron transfer
process produces charged particles called ions.

• Ion is an atom (or group of atoms) that is electrically charged as a result of the loss
or gain of electrons. This destroys the proton-electron balance and leaves a net
charge on the atom.
o If an atom gains one or more electrons, it becomes negatively charged ion
(anion). Excess negative charge is present because electrons outnumber
protons.
o If an atom loses one or more electrons, it becomes positively charged ion
(cation). More protons are present than electrons.
• The charge (sign and magnitude) on an ion depends on the number of electrons
that are lost or gained. 2
o Loss of one, two or more electrons gives ions with +1, +2, or +3 charges,
respectively. Examples are Na+, Ca2+, Al3+.
o A gain of one, two or more electrons gives ions with -1, -2, or -3 charges,
respectively. Examples Cl-, O2-, N3-.
• The following are the generalizations about the ionic charges.
o Metal atoms containing one, two or three valence electrons (metals in
Group IA, IIA and IIIA) tend to lose electrons to acquire a noble-gas electron
configuration. The magnitude of the ionic charge is equal to the metal’s
periodic table group number.
o Nonmetal atoms containing five, six, or seven valence electrons (Group VA,
VIA, VIIA) tend to gain electrons to acquire a noble-gas electron
configuration. Metals form negative ions whose charge is equal to the group
number minus 8.
o Elements in Group IVA would have to gain or lose four electrons to attain a
noble-gas structure.

2
Note that we use single plus or minus sign to denote a charge of 1. Also note that in
multicharged ions, the number precedes the charge sign.
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Group Charge Group Charge

IA 1+ VA 3-
IIA 2+ VIA 2-
IIIA 3+ VIIA 1-

• There are two categories of ions.

o Monatomic ion is an ion formed from a single atom through loss or gain of
electrons.

o Polyatomic ion is an ion formed from a group of atoms (held together by

covalent bonds) through loss or gain of electrons.
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II. Formulas and Names of Ionic Compounds

Let us examine the naming of positive ions and the naming of negative ions. After that,
we will consider how to put the names of the ions together to identify the complete ionic
compound.
• Positive ions (Cations)
o Cations formed from metal atoms have the same name as the metal.
o If a metal can form different cations (variable charges), the charge on the
metal ion is incorporated into the name by a Roman numeral in parentheses
following the name of the metal. Another method still widely used for
distinguishing between two differently charged ions of a metal is to apply
the ending -ous or -ic. These endings represent the lower and higher
charged ions, respectively. They are added to the root of the element’s Latin
name.
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• Negative ions (Anions)

o The names of monatomic ions are formed by replacing the ending of the
name of the element with -ide.
o Polyatomic ions containing oxygen (oxyanions) have names ending in -ate
or -ite. The ending -ate is used for the most common oxyanion of an
element. The ending -ite is used for an oxyanion that has the same charge
but one O atom fewer. Prefixes are also used; the prefix -per indicates one
more O atom than the oxyanion ending in -ate while the prefix -hypo
indicates one O atom fewer than the oxyanion ending in -ite.

ClO4- perchlorate ion (one more O atom than chlorate ion)

ClO3- chlorate ion
ClO2- chlorite ion (one O atom fewer than chlorate)
ClO- hypochlorite (one O atom fewer than chlorite)
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Ionic compounds are always neutral. Electron loss always equals electron gain in an
electron transfer process. Thus, the ratio in which positive and negative ions combine is
the ratio that achieves charge neutrality for the resulting compound. Ions are combined
in the ratio that causes the positive and negative charges to add to zero.

There are three general rules to remember when writing chemical formulas for ionic
compounds.
• The symbol for the positive ion (cation) is always written first.
• The charges on the ions that are present are not shown in the formula.
• The numbers in the formula (subscripts) give the combining ratio for the ions.

In naming binary ionic compounds (ionic compound which one element present is a metal
and the other element present is a nonmetal), the following rules are being followed:
• The full name of the metallic element (or cation) is given first.
• Followed by a separate word containing the stem of the nonmetallic element (or
anion) name and the suffix -ide.
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In naming ionic compounds with metals with variable charges, the charge on the metal
ion must be incorporated into the name using Roman numerals. If you are uncertain about
the charge on the metal ion in an ionic compound, use the charge on the nonmetal ion
(which does not vary) to calculate it.

Chemical formulas for ionic compounds that contain polyatomic ions are determined in
the same way as those for ionic compounds that contain monatomic ions. The positive
and negative charges present must add to zero. Two conventions arise when we write
chemical formulas containing polyatomic ions.
• When more than one polyatomic ion of a given kind is required in a chemical
formula, the polyatomic ion is enclosed in parentheses, and a subscript, placed
outside the parentheses, is used to indicate the number of polyatomic ions needed.
Example is Fe(OH)3.
• So that the identity of polyatomic ions is preserved, the same elemental symbol
may be used more than once in a chemical formula. An example is the formula
NH4NO3, where the chemical symbol for nitrogen (N) appears in two locations
because both the NH4+ and NO3- ions contain nitrogen (N).
The names of ionic compounds containing polyatomic ions are derived in a manner
similar to that for binary ionic compounds with few modifications:
• If the polyatomic ion is positive, its name is substituted for that of the metal. If the
polyatomic ion is negative, its name is substituted for the nonmetal stem plus -ide.
• When both positive and negative ions are polyatomic, dual substitution occurs, and
the resulting name includes just the names of the polyatomic ions.
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Ions Formula Name

K+and CO32- K2CO3 potassium carbonate
Fe3+ and SO42- Fe2(SO4)3 iron (III) sulfate
NH4+ and Cl- NH4Cl ammonium chloride
NH4+ and SO42- (NH4)2SO4 ammonium sulfate
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III. Structure and Properties of Ionic Compounds

An ionic compound, in the solid state, consists of

positive and negative ions arranged in a such a way
that each ion is surrounded by nearest neighbors of
the opposite charge and are bonded by electrostatic
attractions (positive-negative). The alternating array of
positive and negative ions present in an ionic
compound means that discrete molecules do not exist
in such compounds. Therefore, the chemical formulas
of ionic compounds cannot represent the composition
of molecules of these substances only the simplest
combining ratio for the ions present. Chemists use the
term formula unit rather than molecule to refer to the
smallest unit of an ionic compound.
• Formula unit is the smallest whole-number repeating ratio of ions present in an
ionic compound that results in charge neutrality. Although the chemical formulas
for ionic compounds represent only ratios, they are used in equations and chemical
calculations in the same way as are the chemical formulas for molecular species.
However, they cannot be interpreted as indicating that molecules exist for these
substances.
The ions present in an ionic solid adopt an arrangement that maximizes attractions
between ions of opposite charge and minimizes repulsions between ions of like charge.
The specific arrangement that is adopted depends on ion sizes and on the ratio between
positive and negative ions. Arrangements are usually very symmetrical and result in
crystalline solids (solids with regular shapes).

Ionic compounds have the following properties

• They have very high melting and boiling points. The ionic bond between the ions
is very strong and keeps the ions in the crystal together.
• Compounds in solid state are nonconductors of electricity. In solid state, the ions
occupy fixed positions in the crystal lattice; they vibrate in their fixed positions.
• In liquid or molten state, ionic compounds can conduct electricity. In this state or
when in solution, ions are able to move about and carry a charge and an electric
conductor result. Conduction of electricity is possible through the movement of
charged particles.
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Educational Videos:

Concept of Valency – Introduction | Atoms and Molecules

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVSF2lP4oBA
What are Ionic Bonds? | Properties of Matter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpaHPXVR8WU
What are Ions? | Properties of Matter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=900dXBWgx3Y
Formulae of Ionic Compounds and Their Names – Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfYnhnfdsD0
Formulae of Ionic Compounds and Their Names – Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JylJwHryeSU
Giant Ionic Structure or Lattices | Properties of Matter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNKsbnH1vw8

References:

Brown, Theodore et al (1994). Chemistry: the Central Science. Englewood cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
Padolina, Ma. Christina et al (2010). Conceptual and Functional Chemistry, Modular
Approach. Quezon City: Vibal Publishing House, Inc.
Stoker, Stephen (2012). General Chemistry. Pasig City: Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd
(Philippine Branch).
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Photo Credits:

(Types of Chemical Bonds, Lewis Symbol, Common Anions, NaCl Structure)

Brown, Theodore et al (1994). Chemistry: the Central Science. Englewood cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
(Lewis Structure)
Stoker, Stephen (2012). General Chemistry. Pasig City: Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd
(Philippine Branch).
(Common Polyatomic Ions)
http://www.fccj.us/PolyatomicIons/fg07_T03.html
(Aluminum Oxide, Table 2.2, Figure 2.14, Table 9.3)
Chang R. Chemistry (2010). Jakarta: McGraw-Hill.
(Naming Ionic Compounds)
Zumdahl, Steven et al (2007). Chemistry, Seventh Edition. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin
Company.

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The multitude of information in this lesson material that includes definitions, explanations,
examples, and pictures were obtained from the cited references and online sources.
Thus, all recognitions shall be given to the cited authors, publishers, and content
proprietors who provided correct and accessible information that promotes quality
education for all. This lesson material is not for sale.