STEPS IN IONIC BONDING
1) Complete the Lewis Dot Diagram for both atoms involve (one
with dots the other with x’s).
2) Identify which atom will lose electrons and which will gain
electrons (the one with fewer electrons will lose while the other
will gain). Label them.
3) Redraw the Lewis Dot Diagram for each atom with their new
number of electrons. The atom that lost will now lose a shell
(and have a full lower shell) while the atom that gains will now
have a full shell (do not worry about whether the number of
electrons between the two atoms match).
4) Determine the charge on each atom. For the losing atom, each
electron lost will give the atom one positive charge (since the its
number of electrons and protons are now unequal). For the
gaining atom, each electron gained will give it one negative
charge.
5) Determine the number of each atom necessary for them to
balance each others charge. For example, if you had a losing
atom with a +2 charge and a gaining atom with a -1 charge,
then you would need 2 of the atoms that gained electrons to
balance the +2 charge on the losing atom.
6) Finally, write the correct chemical formula.