Ionic and Metallic Bonding Study Guide

Ion

An ion is an atom, radical, or molecule that has gained or lost one or more electrons and has a negative or positive charge.

Cation

A positive ion formed when an atom loses one or more electrons.

Anion

A negative ion formed when an atom gains one or more electrons.

Octet Rule

The principle that atoms tend to gain, lose, or share electrons to achieve a stable electron configuration with 8 electrons in their outermost shell.

Electron Configuration (EC)

The distribution of electrons in an atom's electron shells and subshells, which determines its chemical properties.

Stable Noble Gas Electron Configuration

An electron configuration that resembles that of a noble gas, typically with 8 electrons in the outermost shell.

Transition Metals

Elements that can form stable cations with different charges and often do not achieve complete octets.

Ionic Bond

A chemical bond formed through the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions.

Metallic Bond

A bond formed by the attraction between positively charged metal ions and the electrons in a metal lattice.

Salt

A typical ionic compound that is electrically neutral and consists of cations and anions held together by ionic bonds.

Crystalline Lattice Structure

The orderly, repeating arrangement of ions in a solid ionic compound, resulting in a tightly packed structure.

Properties of Ionic Compounds

The characteristics of ionic compounds that depend on the nature of ionic bonds, such as high melting points and electrical conductivity when dissolved in water.

Electrostatic Attraction

The force that attracts oppositely charged ions to each other, forming ionic bonds.

Neutral Sodium and Chlorine Atoms

Atoms that have not gained or lost electrons and thus have no net charge.

Formation of Ionic Compounds

Occurs when one atom transfers electrons to another atom, resulting in the formation of cations and anions.

Different Chemical Properties

The distinct behaviors and reactions of an atom and its ion due to differences in electron configuration.

Number of Valence Electrons

The number of electrons in the outermost shell of an atom, which determines its reactivity and ion formation.

Electrically Neutral

A condition where the total positive charge equals the total negative charge in a compound.

S- and D-Orbitals

Types of atomic orbitals that transition metals can use to form cations.

Ionic Compounds and Acids

Ionic compounds can also be formed by immersing a metal into an acid, such as HCl.

Chemical Reactivity

The tendency of an atom to undergo chemical reactions, influenced by its electron configuration.

Properties of Ions

The characteristics of ions that differ from their parent atoms due to changes in electron configuration.

Ionization energy

The energy that it takes to remove the outermost electron from an atom.

Lattice energy

The energy released when ionic bonds are formed as the separated ions bond.

Endothermic process

A process that requires energy to occur.

Exothermic process

A process that releases energy.

Neutral ionic compound

An ionic compound that has no overall charge.

Ionic compounds

Compounds formed by metals and nonmetals that do not consist of molecules but compound units.

Naming ionic compounds

Ionic compounds get the first part of their name from the metal and the second part from the anion with an ending -de.

Examples of ionic compounds

NaCl is sodium chloride, Mg3N2 is magnesium nitride, K2O is potassium oxide.

Transition metal naming

When a transition metal forms two or more ions, the name includes roman numerals to indicate the charge.

Examples of transition metal compounds

CuCl2 is copper (II) chloride, ZnS is zinc (II) sulfide.

Writing ionic formulas

Ionic compounds have a balance of positive and negative charges.

Charge balance in NaCl

In NaCl both ions have a charge of 1.

Charge balance in ZnS

In ZnS both ions have a charge of 2.

Electroneutrality in Mg3N2

Three Mg2+ cations are needed for every two N3− anions for electroneutrality.

Polyatomic ion

A charged group of two or more bonded atoms that can be considered a single ion.

Example of a polyatomic ion

The nitrate anion, NO3-, is a polyatomic ion.

Crystal structure formation

The energy released when the crystal structure of a salt is formed as the separated ions bond.

Overall process spontaneity

Without lattice energy, there would not be enough energy to make the overall process spontaneous.

Metallic bond

A type of bond that is not described in detail in the notes but is mentioned.

High melting points of ionic bonds

Ionic bonds have high melting points, but metals have even higher melting points.

Ratio of cations to anions

The ratio of cations to anions in ionic compounds is always such that the compound is neutral.