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What are bonds?
Elements are the simplest substances that exist on Earth.

Each element is made up of just one type of atom, usually

joined to other atoms of the same element by bonds.

This forms molecules such as chlorine (Cl2).

Compounds are formed when different elements chemically

react and form bonds with each other.

Some compounds, like water (H20),

have small, simple structures with
just a few atoms bonded together.

Others compounds, like DNA, have large, complex structures

containing thousands or even millions of bonded atoms.

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Why do atoms form bonds?
Bonds involve the electrons in the outer shells of atoms.
Each shell has a maximum number of electrons that it can
hold. Electrons fill the shells nearest the nucleus first.

1st shell holds a maximum

of 2 electrons

2nd shell holds a maximum

of 8 electrons

3rd shell holds a

maximum of 8 electrons

Filled electron shells are very stable.

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Why do atoms form bonds?
The atoms of noble gases have completely
full outer shells and so are stable.

This makes the noble gases very unreactive

and so they do not usually form bonds.

The atoms of other elements have

incomplete outer electron shells
and so are unstable.

By forming bonds, the atoms of these

elements are able to have filled outer
shells and become stable.

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What are the types of bonding?
Different types of bonds are formed depending on the types
of atoms involved:
 ionic bonding
– occurs between metal and non-metal atoms.
 covalent bonding
– occurs between non-metals atoms only.
 metallic bonding
– occurs between metal atoms only.

All bonds involve electrons and all bonding involve changes

to the number of electrons in the outer shells of atoms.

How do you think electrons are involved in ionic bonding?

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From atoms to ions
How can reactive metal atoms become stable positive ions?

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How do atoms form ions?

An ion is an atom or group of atoms that has an

electrical charge, either positive and negative.
Atoms have an equal number of protons and electrons and
so do not have an overall charge.
Atoms with incomplete outer electron
shells are unstable. By either gaining or
losing electrons, atoms can obtain full
outer electron shells and become stable.

When this happens, atoms have an unequal number of

protons and electrons and so have an overall charge.
This is how atoms become ions.
How does an atom become a positive or negative ion?
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Positive and negative ions?

An atom that loses electrons has more protons

than electrons and so has a positive overall charge.
This is called a positive ion.

An atom that gains electrons has more electrons

than protons and so has a negative overall charge.
This is called a negative ion.

The electron configuration of an atom shows how many

electrons it must lose or gain to have a filled outer shell.
 Atoms with a nearly empty outer shell, will lose electrons
to obtain a full outer shell.
 Atoms with a nearly full outer shell, will gain electrons
to obtain a full outer shell.
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 How do atoms form positive ions?
An atom that loses one or more electrons
forms a positive ion.
Metal atoms, such as sodium, magnesium
and iron, form positive ions.
Positive ions have a small ‘+’ symbol and a number by this
to indicate how many electrons have been lost.
This number is usually the same as the number of electrons
in the atom’s outer shell. For example:

lithium atom 2.1 lithium ion [ 2 ] = Li+

magnesium atom 2.8.2 magnesium ion [ 2.8 ] = Mg2+
aluminium atom 2.8.3 aluminium ion [ 2.8 ] = Al3+

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How is a sodium ion formed?
Sodium atom: Sodium ion:
11 protons = +11 11 protons = +11
11 electrons = -11 10 electrons = -10
Total charge = 0 Total charge = +1

+
loses
Na 1 electron Na

2.8.1 [2.8]
(partially full outer shell) (full outer shell)
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How is a magnesium ion formed?
Magnesium atom: Magnesium ion:
12 protons = +12 12 protons = +12
12 electrons = -12 10 electrons = -10
Total charge = 0 Total charge = +2

2+
loses
Mg 2 electrons Mg

2.8.2 [2.8]2+
(partially full outer shell) (full outer shell)
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How do atoms form negative ions?
An atom that gains one or more electrons
forms a negative ion.
Non-metal atoms, such as chlorine,
oxygen and nitrogen, form negative ions.
Negative ions have a small ‘-’ symbol and a number by this
to indicate how many electrons have been gained to fill their
outer shell. For example:
chlorine atom 2.8.7 chloride ion [ 2.8.8 ] = Cl-

oxygen atom 2.6 oxide ion [2] = O2-

nitrogen atom 2.5 nitride ion [2] = N3-

The name of the ion is slightly different to the atom’s name.

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How is a fluoride ion formed?
Fluorine atom: Fluoride ion:
9 protons = +9 9 protons = +9
9 electrons = -9 10 electrons = -10
Total charge = 0 Total charge = -1

-
gains 1
F electron F

2.7 [2.8]-
(partially full outer shell) (full outer shell)

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How is a sulfide ion formed?
Sulfur atom: Sulfide ion:
16 protons = +16 16 protons = +16
16 electrons = -16 18 electrons = -18
Total charge = 0 Total charge = -2
2-

gains 2
electrons S
S

2.8.6 [2.8.8]2-
(partially full outer shell) (full outer shell)
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Building an ion

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 Calculating ion charges
What is the charge on the ion of each element?

Element calcium hydrogen phosphorus fluorine beryllium

Electron
shells 2.8.8.2 1 2.8.5 2.7 2.2

Charge
on ion +2 +1 -3 -1 +2

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Electron configuration of ions
When different elements gain or lose electrons to complete
their outer electron shell, they can create ions that have the
same electron configuration.
For example, oxygen and fluorine both gain electrons to
become negative ions. The resulting ions have the same
electron configuration:
2- -

O F

The number of protons and neutrons however, remain

different for each element.
This means that each ion has different properties.
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Comparing electron configurations

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What is a compound ion?
Ions can be made up of a single atom or a group of atoms. An
ion made up of a group of atoms is called a compound ion.
What atoms are present in the following compound ions?
Ion Formula Charge Atoms present
hydroxide OH- -1 O H

sulfate SO42- -2 S O O O O

nitrate NO3- -1 N O O O

carbonate CO32- -2 C O O O

ammonium NH4+ +1 N H H H H

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Comparing positive and negative ions

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Ions and attraction
Why do some ions attract while others repel?

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What is ionic bonding?
Compounds that contain ions are called ionic
compounds. These compounds are usually
formed by a reaction between a metal and a
non-metal.

Why do these substances react together and form bonds?

The metal and non-metal atoms have incomplete outer
electron shells and so are unstable.
Electrons are transferred from each metal atom to each
non-metal atom. The metal and the non-metal atoms form
ions with completely full outer shells and become stable.
The positive and negative ions are strongly attracted to each
other. This electrostatic attraction is called ionic bonding.

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How are ionic bonds formed?
Sodium chloride is an ionic compound formed by the reaction
between the metal sodium and the non-metal chlorine.
+
Sodium has 1 electron
in its outer shell. Na
Na
By losing this electron,
it has a filled outer shell
and forms a positive ion. 2.8.1 [2.8]+
Chlorine has 7 electrons -
in its outer shell.
By gaining an electron Cl Cl
from sodium, it has a
filled outer shell and
forms a negative ion.
2.8.7 [2.8.8]-
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How are ionic bonds formed?
The positive sodium ions and the negative chloride ions
are strongly attracted to each other.

-
+

Na Cl

It is this electrostatic attraction that forms ionic bonds in

sodium chloride and other ionic compounds.

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Formation of an ionic bond

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Ions and ionic bonding – summary

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What is the ratio of ions?
Sodium chloride (NaCl) and magnesium oxide (MgO) are
simple ionic compounds.
In each compound, the metal needs to lose the same
number of electrons that the non-metal needs to gain.

Na 1 electron Cl Na+ Cl-

Mg 2 electrons O Mg2+ O2-

Both compounds have a 1:1 ratio of metal ions to non-metal

ions, which is shown by the formula of each compound.

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What is the ratio of ions in sodium oxide?
What is the ratio of ions needed to make sodium oxide?
Sodium (2.8.1) needs to lose 1 electron to form a sodium ion
but oxygen (2.6) must gain 2 electrons to form an oxide ion .

Na Na+
1 electron
O O2-
from each
Na atom Na+
Na

Two sodium atoms are required for each oxygen atom

and so the ratio of sodium ions to oxide ions is 2:1.
From this ratio, the formula of sodium oxide is Na2O.

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What is the ratio of ions in magnesium chloride?

What is the ratio of ions needed for magnesium chloride?

Magnesium (2.8.2) needs to lose 2 electrons to form a
magnesium ion but chlorine (2.8.7) needs to gain 1 electron
to form an chloride ion.

Cl
Cl-
1 electron
Mg for each Mg2+
Cl atom
Cl Cl-

Two chlorine atoms are required for each magnesium atom

and so the ratio of magnesium ions to chloride ions is 1:2.
From this ratio, the formula of magnesium chloride is MgCl2.

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How to write the formula of an ionic compound

The formula of a compound uses chemical symbols and

numbers to show the ratio of atoms of each element present.
To work out the formula of an ionic compound:

1. Write down the symbol for each element

– the metal is always written first.
2. Calculate the charge for each type of ion.
3. Balance the number of ions so that the positive
and negative charges are balanced and equal zero.
This gives the ratio of ions.
4. Use the ratio to write down the formula of the ionic
compound.

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Formula of aluminium bromide
What is the formula of aluminium bromide?
Symbol Al Br
Ion charge +3 -1
Balance the 3 bromide ions are needed
number of ions for each aluminium ion
Ratio of ions 1:3
Formula AlBr3

Br Br-
1 electron
for each
Al bromine Br Al3+ Br-
atom
Br Br-
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Formula of aluminium oxide
What is the formula of aluminium oxide?
Symbol Al O
Ion charge +3 -2
Balance the 2 aluminium ions are
number of ions needed for 3 oxide ions
Ratio of ions 2:3
Formula Al2O3

Al O O2-
Al3+
2 electrons for
each oxygen atom O O2-
Al3+
Al
O O2-
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 More ionic formulae
What are the formulae of all the possible ionic compounds
from combinations of these metals and non-metals.
metals
non- Li Ca Na Mg Al K
metals
F LiF CaF2 NaF MgF2 AlF3 KF
O Li2O CaO Na2O MgO Al2O3 K2O
N Li3N Ca3N2 Na3N Mg3N2 AlN K3N
Br LiBr CaBr2 NaBr MgBr2 AlBr3 KBr
S Li2S CaS Na2S MgS Al2S3 K2S
Cl LiCl CaCl2 NaCl MgCl2 AlCl3 KCl

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What is the ionic formula?

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What is an ionic lattice?
In an ionic compound, millions and millions of ions are
packed together in a regular cubic arrangement, joined by
ionic bonds.
This forms a giant 3D
structure called an
ionic lattice.

The ionic lattice will

continue to build in this way
until there are no more ions
left to add.

The structure of the ionic

lattice affects the properties
of the ionic compound.

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Why do ionic compounds form crystals?

Ionic compounds such as sodium chloride, form crystals, with

a cubic shape. This is due to the structure of the ionic lattice.

All ionic compounds form lattices and crystals when solid.

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Heating ionic compounds
Why are ionic compounds solid at room temperature and
have high melting points and boiling points?
Ion Melting Boiling
Compound
charges point (oC) point (oC)
sodium chloride 1+ and 1- 801 1,413
magnesium oxide 2+ and 2- 2,852 3,600
strong
Ionic bonds are strong and a ionic bonds
lot of heat is needed to break hold ions
them. together
Larger ionic charges produce stronger ionic bonds and so
much more heat is required to break the ionic bonds in
magnesium oxide than in sodium chloride.
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Do ionic compounds conduct electricity?

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How can ionic compounds conduct electricity?

As solids, ionic compounds ions in

cannot conduct electricity solid state
because their ions are cannot
bonded together in the lattice. move

When liquid (molten), the ions ions in

can break free of the lattice molten state
and are able to move. The ions can move
are charged particles and so and conduct
can carry an electric current. electricity

Ionic compounds are usually soluble in water because water

molecules have a slight electrical charge and so can attract
the ions away from the lattice. When dissolved, the ions are
free to move and can carry an electric current.

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 Why are ionic compounds brittle?
Ionic compounds are brittle – they shatter when they are hit.
Ionic bonds are strong, so why does this happen?

force
repulsion

When the lattice is hit, a layer These like charges repel

of ions is shifted so that ions each other and so split
with the same charges are the ionic lattice causing
lined up together. it to shatter.

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True or false?

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 Glossary
bond – A strong force that joins atoms or ions together in
molecules and giant lattices.
compound ion – An ion made up of a group of atoms,
rather than one single atom.
ionic bond – The electrostatic force of attraction between
oppositely charged ions.
ionic compound – A compound made up of ions.
ionic lattice – A giant 3D structure of closely packed,
oppositely-charged ions.
negative ion – An atom or group of atoms that has gained
electrons and so has a negative charge.
noble gas – An element that has a full outer electron shell
and so is very stable and unreactive.
positive ion – An atom or group of atoms that has lost
electrons and so has a positive charge.
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Anagrams

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Multiple-choice quiz

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