Ionic and Covalent Compounds

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Coulomb's law

Describes the force between charged particles, showing that the force is directly related to the magnitude of the charges and inversely related to the distance between the particles.

Ionic bonding

A type of bonding that occurs between charged particles.

Covalent bonding

A type of bonding that involves the sharing of electron pairs between atoms.

Metallic bonding

A type of bonding that occurs between metal atoms, characterized by a sea of delocalized electrons.

Intermolecular forces

Forces that occur between molecules.

Cations

Positively charged ions formed by metals losing their highest-energy valence electrons.

Anions

Negatively charged ions formed by nonmetals gaining electrons in their highest-energy orbitals.

Lewis symbol

A representation that shows the number of valence electrons for an atom or monoatomic ion arranged around the element symbol.

Isoelectronic ions

Ions that have the same number of electrons but different numbers of protons.

Polyatomic ions

Groups of covalently bonded atoms that carry an overall charge.

Neutral ionic compound

A compound in which the total cationic positive charge is balanced by the total anionic negative charge.

Molecular covalent compounds

Compounds that consist of individual molecules.

Network covalent compounds

Compounds that are made up of a three-dimensional network of covalently bonded atoms.

Molecular formula

The simplest way to represent a molecule, consisting of element symbols and subscript numbers indicating the number of atoms of each element in one molecule of the compound.

Empirical formula

The simplest whole-number ratio of elements in a compound.

Structural formulas

Formulas that provide additional information about the atom connectivity in a molecule.

Condensed structural formulas

A type of structural formula that provides information about atom connectivity in a more compact form.

Wedge-and-dash models

Models that give information about the three-dimensional shape of a molecule.

Ball-and-stick models

Models that represent molecules in three dimensions, showing the arrangement of atoms and bonds.

Space-filling models

Models that give a visual representation of the space occupied by atoms in a molecule.

Binary nonmetals

Covalent compounds consisting of only two nonmetal elements, usually named according to a set of simple rules.

Covalent compounds

Compounds such as inorganic acids, oxoacids, and hydrocarbons that are named according to the composition of the compound or the relative number of atoms of each element in the compound formula.

Compound formula

A representation that can be used to determine whether a compound is covalent or ionic.

Coulomb's Law

The force of attraction between the oppositely charged ions of an ionic compound is directly proportional to their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

bonds

An interatomic attraction resulting from the sharing of electrons between the atoms.

ionic bonding

The attraction between a positive ion and a negative ion, resulting from the complete (or nearly complete) transfer of one or more electrons from one atom to another.

covalent bonding

An interatomic attraction resulting from the sharing of electrons between the atoms.

metallic bonding

The attractive forces that exist between the electrons and nuclei in metal atoms.

intermolecular forces

Interactions between molecules, between ions, or between molecules and ions.

Lewis symbol

A notation for the electron configuration of an atom or ion.

polyatomic ions

An ion consisting of more than one atom.

molecular covalent compound

A compound formed by the combination of atoms without significant ionic character; see also covalent compound.

network covalent compound

A compound made up of a network of covalently bonded atoms; see also covalent solid.

molecular formula

A written formula that expresses the number of atoms of each type within one molecule of a compound.

empirical formula

A molecular formula showing the simplest possible ratio of atoms in a molecule.

structural formula

A variation of a molecular formula that expresses how the atoms in a compound are connected.

condensed structural formula

A variation of a molecular formula that shows groups of atoms.

wedge-and-dash model

A two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional structure that can easily be drawn on paper, where bonds are represented by lines, wedges, or dashes.

ball-and-stick model

A molecular model that shows atoms as colored spheres connected by sticks that represent covalent bonds.

space-filling model

A representation of a molecule where interpenetrating spheres represent the relative amount of space occupied by each atom in the molecule.

binary nonmetals

A compound formed from two elements, both nonmetals.

inorganic acids

An acid that produces the hydrogen ion (H+) when dissolved in water and that contains hydrogen and one or more nonmetals.

hydrocarbons

A compound that contains only carbon and hydrogen.

oxoacids

Groups of acids that differ only in the number of oxygen atoms.