Name:___________________________________________ Period _______ Date _______________________
Section 6.1 Practice Worksheet
Using Electronegativity to Predict Polarity of Bonds
Part 1
The property of ______________________ , which is the measure of an atom’s ability to attract electrons, can
be used to predict the degree to which the bonding between atoms of two elements is ionic or covalent. The
_______________ the electronegativity difference, the more ______________ the bonding is.
If the calculated electronegative difference is…
> 1.7 : ionic bond is formed
> 0.3 , < 1.7 : polar-covalent bond
0 – 0.3 : non-polar covalent bond
Directions: Fill in the following chart, using the electronegativies of the elements in each suggested pair.
Elements
Electronegativity
Element 1
Element 2
Electronegativity
Difference
Bond Type
Mg to Cl
H to O
C to Cl
N to H
C to S
K to F
Na to Cl
H to H
Part 2
Looking at the types of bonds you identified above, do you notice any trend for each pair between the location
on the periodic table of each element and their calculated electronegativity difference?


Metal & nonmetal
: __________________
Nonmetal & nonmetal : ___________________
It is also possible if a compound contains polyatomic ions, for both types of bonding to be present.
Ex:
Name:___________________________________________ Period _______ Date _______________________
Directions: Classify the following compounds as ionic, covalent, or both.
1. CaCl2
____________________
5. BaSO4
____________________
2. CO2
____________________
6. H2O
____________________
3. MgO
____________________
7. SO3
____________________
4. HCl
____________________
8. AlPO4
____________________