Lesson 7: Ionic Bonding and Nomenclature

You have learned a lot about chemistry in the past several lessons, but in some respects we are still at the beginning and still need to deal with simplified versions of the ways that atoms interact with one another. With that in mind, please realize that the statements in this lesson about how atoms bond to one another should be considered guiding principles rather than inviolable rules.

There are many ways in which the atoms that you have been studying in the last few lessons can combine with one another. In the next two lessons (Lesson 7 and Lesson 8) we will limit ourselves to three types of strong chemical bonds - ionic, covalent and metallic - which can be used to describe the bonding in pure substances (compounds and elements) and alloys. Those three types of bonds are represented in the images shown here. Soon you will be able to identify and describe the type of bonding represented in each of these pictures.

Your goal in this lesson should not be limited to learning the right words and descriptions but rather to understand the logic of chemical bonding. What causes the formation of bonds? What causes the formation of different kinds of bonds? What causes one atom to form one bond, another to form two bonds, and yet another to form a dozen bonds?

As noted in the objectives for this lesson, you will need to be able to determine what type of bonding will hold certain atoms together. That decision will be based on what types of atoms are involved. You will need to be able to determine whether the atoms bond together to form molecules or a network. That decision also will be based on what types of atoms are involved. You will need to determine whether the atoms bond together to form an element, an alloy or a compound. That decision will also be based on the types of atoms involved. I think you can see that it will be very important to know quite a bit about the nature of the atoms you will be working with.

You will also need to focus on what happens to the electrons of those atoms. Will they be lost, gained, shared or moved from one place to another. Again, this will depend on the nature of the atoms that are involved and how they interact with one another.

These questions will be addressed over the next two lessons, first in Lesson 7 covering ionic bonding, and then in Lesson 8 covering covalent and metallic bonding.