Ionic bonding
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The teaching part (1 min) is free to watch. A free account opens the whole lecture: 3 worked examples, 6 practice questions, 2 real past-paper questions with the answers explained, the mistakes that lose marks, the full-marks tip, a one-card summary and a quick quiz.
What this lecture covers
- From poison to table salt
- What is ionic bonding?
- Why do atoms do this?
Read the transcript of the teaching part
Last time
Before we start: last time, in Giant covalent structures, you learned these points. Here they are again on one card. Keep them in mind, because today builds on them.
From poison to table salt
Sodium is a soft metal that fizzes violently in water. Chlorine is a poisonous green gas. Put them together and you get sodium chloride, the salt on your dinner table. The change happens because electrons move from one atom to the other, and the result is an ionic bond.
What is ionic bonding?
Ionic bonding happens between a metal and a non-metal. The metal atoms lose electrons to form positive ions. The non-metal atoms gain electrons to form negative ions. Opposite charges attract each other. This strong electrostatic attraction between positive and negative ions is the ionic bond. Electrons are transferred in ionic bonding. They are not shared.
Why do atoms do this?
Atoms are most stable when they have a full outer shell of electrons, like a noble gas. A metal atom with only a few outer electrons finds it easiest to lose them. A non-metal atom that is only one or two electrons short finds it easiest to gain them.
How often it comes up
How often Cambridge has asked each part, counted by ExamYard from every past paper in its question bank: Ionic bonding · Ions and ionic bonds.
The whole chapter: Atoms, Elements and Compounds, Atoms, Elements and Compounds.
Chapter 2: Atoms, elements and compounds
- Atoms: protons, neutrons and electrons 6 min
- Isotopes and relative atomic mass 7 min
- Electronic configuration 5 min
- Ionic bonding 6 min
- Covalent bonding and simple molecules 6 min
- Giant covalent structures 6 min
- Metallic bonding 6 min
- Comparing structures and properties 7 min
Also for IGCSE Chemistry 0620
Which topics come up most in IGCSE Chemistry 0620 past papers, counted from every paper since 2004.