Ionic Compounds
I. Introduction: Thousands and thousands of chemicals exist in the world, and all are made up of the combination of the different elements we learned about in the previous chapter. These elements combine in all sorts of different ways, making up compounds that have very different properties. The force that holds to atoms together in a compound is called a chemical bond. Why do atoms bond? Because they want to obtain stability by having 8 valence electrons (the octet rule). One way to create the stable octet is by transferring electrons....
Much of what we discuss in Chemistry involves the formation of ions from metallic and nonmetallic elements and the resulting compounds they form. From what you have learned about the Periodic Table, the group # represents the number of valence electrons an element has. The OCTET RULE states that atoms will either gain or lose their valence electrons until they have 8 valence electrons. When this occurs, the resulting ions will combine to form compounds, which are more stable than the ions by themselves.
As you already know, metallic elements have between 1-3 valence electrons. Since elements want 8 valence electrons, it is much easier for metals to lose 1, 2, or 3 valence electrons than it is to gain 5, 6, or 7 of them. Thus, metals will lose electrons and form positive ions, called cations. Nonmetals, on the other hand, usually have between 5-7 valence electrons. Since it is much easier for nonmetals to gain 1, 2, or 3 electrons than it is to lose 5, 6, or 7 of them, nonmetallic elements tend to form negative ions, called anions.
Because metals have 1, 2, or 3 valence electrons, it is easier for them to lose electrons to reach the stable octet they become positively-charged cations.
Nonmetals have 5, 6, or 7 valence electrons, so it is easier for them to gain electrons to reach the stable octet they become negatively-charged anions.
Recall Sodium: 11 p+ and 11 e- Electron...