Shedding Light on Atoms Episode 8: Ionic Bonding
Part A
1. A carbon atom has ______ protons (which have a ________________ charge)
and _____ electrons (which have a _________________ charge).
Overall, the charge on a carbon atom is zero and the atom is said to be
____________________.
The nucleus of an atom is made up of ______________ and ______________,
and the _________________ spin around the nucleus at really high speeds.
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________
not to scale
Part B
Name: __________________________
5. Describe the arrangement of the atoms in a crystal of table salt (sodium chloride, NaCl).
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6. Fill in the table below and complete the electron configuration diagrams by drawing in the position of
each atom’s or ion’s electrons.
Sodium Atom, Na
Sodium Ion, Na+
Chlorine Atom, Cl
Chloride Ion, Cl-
Electron Configuration:
__________________
Electron Configuration
Diagram:
Electron Configuration:
__________________
Electron Configuration
Diagram:
Electron Configuration:
__________________
Electron Configuration
Diagram:
Electron Configuration:
__________________
Electron Configuration
Diagram:
Cl
Cl-
Na+
Na
Na
Cl
No. of protons: ______
No. of protons: ______
No. of protons: ______
No. of protons: ______
No. of electrons: _____
No. of electrons: _____
No. of electrons: _____
No. of electrons: _____
Overall Charge: ______ Overall Charge: ______ Overall Charge: ______ Overall Charge: ______
7. What is an ion?
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8. What is an ionic compound?
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9. While covalent bonds usually form between the atoms of non-metals, ionic bonds form…
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Part C
10. Fill in the table below and complete the electron configuration diagrams by drawing in the position
of each atom’s or ion’s electrons.
Magnesium Atom, Mg Magnesium Ion, Mg2+
Electron Configuration: Electron Configuration:
__________________
__________________
Electron Configuration Electron Configuration
Diagram:
Diagram:
Mg2+
Oxygen Atom, O
Electron Configuration:
__________________
Electron Configuration
Diagram:
Oxide Ion, O2Electron Configuration:
__________________
Electron Configuration
Diagram:
O2-
Mg
Mg
O
O
No. of protons: ______
No. of protons: ______
No. of protons: ______
No. of protons: ______
No. of electrons: _____
No. of electrons: _____
No. of electrons: _____
No. of electrons: _____
Overall Charge: ______ Overall Charge: ______ Overall Charge: ______ Overall Charge: ______
11. Fill in the table with the ions that each of the elements form.
PERIODIC TABLE OF IONS (first 18 elements)
Charge of
Ions
Period 1
1+
______
______
NA
3-
______
______
NA
Group 1
Group 2
Group
13
Group
14
Group
15
Group
16
Group
17
Group
18
hydrogen
helium
H, 1
H+
He, 2
NA
beryllium
boron
carbon
nitride
oxide
fluoride
neon
Period 2
Li, 3
______
Be, 4
______
B, 5
NA
C, 6
NA
N, 7
______
O, 8
______
F, 9
_____
Ne, 10
NA
sodium
magnesium
aluminium
silicon
phosphide
sulfide
chloride
argon
Period 3
Na, 11
_______
Mg, 12
_______
Al, 13
_______
Si, 14
NA
P, 15
_______
S, 16
S2-
Cl, 17
_______
Ar, 18
NA
Parts D, E, and F
lithium
12. In the tables on the next two pages, write…
(a) the name of the ionic compound that forms when the positive ions (the cations) bond with
the negative ions (the anions). By an agreed convention, the metal ion is written first and the nonmetal ion is written second.
(b) the ionic compound’s formula. The negative ion of a single atom gets a name change so that
it ends in “-ide”. Eg. fluoride, chloride, oxide, sulfide and nitride.
NOTES:
 Many metals can form different ions. For example, lead can form Pb 2+ and Pb4+ ions.
In the formulas, these variations are indicated by the charge written as a Roman
numeral within brackets next to the name of the metal: lead(II) and lead(IV). The
formula lead(II) sulfide is pronounced lead two sulfide.
 The bracketed Roman numerals are only used if an atom can form more than one ion.
For example, K only ever forms K+ when it chemically reacts, so you don’t need to
write, for example, potassium(I) chloride; you can just write potassium chloride.
 Many ions are made of more than one atom and are called polyatomic ions. Eg: sulfate
ions, SO42- and nitrate ions, NO3−. In formulas, brackets are used if there is more than
one polyatomic ion.
Pb2+ FPbF2
Pb4+ FPbF4
lead(II) fluoride
lead(IV) fluoride
K+ ClKCl
Mg2+ NO3Mg(NO3)2
potassium chloride
magnesium nitrate
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TABLE D
Cations (positively charged
ions)
Cl−
K+
F−
potassium chloride
KCl
S2−
N3−
potassium sulfide
K2S
Na+
magnesium oxide
MgO (not Mg2O2: we
use the simplest ratio)
aluminium oxide
Al2O3
Mg2+
Al3+
TABLE E
Cl−
Cations (positively
charged ions)
Anions (negatively charged ions)
O2−
Cu+
copper(I)
Anions (negatively charged ions)
O2−
S2−
N3−
copper(I) chloride
CuCl
Cu2+
copper(II)
Fe2+
iron(II)
iron(II) oxide
FeO
Fe3+
iron(III)
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13. A sulfate ion, SO42−, is made of _____ sulfur atom and _____ oxygen atoms, and has an overall charge of ________.
14. A nitrate ion, NO3−, is made of _____ nitrogen atom and _____ oxygen atoms, and has an overall charge of ________.
15. An ammonium ion, NH4+, is made of _____ nitrogen atom and _____ hydrogen atoms, and has an overall charge of ________.
TABLE F
Polyatomic Anions
Cations (positively charged ions)
Hydroxide: OH−
K+
sulfate: SO42−
Nitrate: NO3−
Carbonate: CO32−
potassium carbonate
K2CO3
potassium hydroxide
KOH
Na+
Mg2+
magnesium hydroxide
Mg(OH)2
magnesium nitrate
Mg(NO3)2
(the bracket with the 2 subscript
indicates that there are 2 OH− ions for
every 1 Mg2+ ion.)
Fe3+
iron(III)
NH4+
ammonium
ammonium sulfate
(NH4)2SO4
16. Choose any two ionic compounds (for example, from the tables above or from your own research). For each of them, write…
(a) its name and formula and (b) at least two uses that it has. (Do not do the same two as the students sitting next to you!
(a)
(b)
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Part G
17. Ionic compounds generally have ___________ melting points, while covalent compounds (also
called molecular compounds because they’re made of molecules) generally have _________ melting
points.
18. When a substance is cold, the particles that make it up (either atoms or ions or molecules) vibrate (or
move) _________________. When a substance is hot, the particles that make it up vibrate (or move)
_________________.
19. Water molecules make up ice (solid water), water (liquid water), and steam (gaseous water). How are
ice, water and steam different (or, in other words, what is the difference between a solid, a liquid, and
a gas)?
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20. Covalent bonds are very strong, and yet covalent compounds usually have low melting points. Why?
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21. Ionic compounds usually have high melting points. Why?
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