The crystal structure of sodium chloride, NaCl, a typical ionic compound. The purple spheres are sodium cations, Na⁺, and the green spheres are chloride anions, Cl⁻.

In chemistry, an ionic compound is a chemical compound in which ions are held together in a lattice structure by ionic bonds. The positively charged ion is usually a metal ion and the negatively charged ion is non-metallic element or molecule. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 629 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1100 × 1048 pixel, file size: 704 KB, MIME type: image/png) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sodium chloride User... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 629 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1100 × 1048 pixel, file size: 704 KB, MIME type: image/png) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sodium chloride User... For other uses, see Crystal (disambiguation). ... Sodium chloride, also known as common salt, table salt, or halite, is a chemical compound with the formula NaCl. ... For sodium in the diet, see Edible salt. ... A cation is an ion with positive charge. ... The chloride ion is formed when the element chlorine picks up one electron to form an anion (negatively-charged ion) Cl−. The salts of hydrochloric acid HCl contain chloride ions and can also be called chlorides. ... An anion is an ion with negative charge. ... For other uses, see Chemistry (disambiguation). ... A chemical compound is a chemical substance of two or more different chemically bonded chemical elements, with a fixed ratio determining the composition. ... This article is about the electrically charged particle. ... Electron configurations of lithium and fluorine. ... 3D (left and center) and 2D (right) representations of the terpenoid molecule atisane. ...

Ions can be single atoms, as in common table salt sodium chloride, or more complex groups such as calcium carbonate. But to be considered a ion, they must carry a positive or negative charge. Thus, in an ionic bond, one 'bonder' must have a positive charge and the other a negative one. By sticking to each other, they resolve, or partially resolve, their separate charge imbalances. Positive to positive and negative to negative ionic bonds do not occur. (For a real world analogy, experiment with a pair of bar magnets.) Sodium chloride, also known as common salt, table salt, or halite, is a chemical compound with the formula NaCl. ... Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound, with the chemical formula CaCO3. ... For other uses, see Magnet (disambiguation). ...

Chemical compounds are rarely strictly ionic or strictly covalent. Except for the most electronegative/electropositive pairs such as cesium fluoride, ionic compounds usually exhibit a degree of covalency. Similarly, covalent compounds often exhibit charge separations. See also HSAB theory. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with electronegativity. ... An electropositive atom, or element, is one that easily loses electrons. ... Caesium fluoride (cesium fluoride in North America), is an ionic compound usually found as a hygroscopic white solid. ... Covalent bonding is a form of chemical bonding that is characterized by the sharing of pairs of electrons between atoms, or sometimes between atoms and other covalent bonds. ... also known as HSAB theory HSAB is the acronym for hard and soft acids and bases The HSAB concept is widely used in chemistry for explaining stability of compounds, reaction paths etc. ...

Physical properties of ionic and molecular compounds:

Characteristics

Ionic compounds have strong electrostatic bonds between particles. As a result, they generally have high melting and boiling points. They have good electrical conductivity when molten or in aqueous solution. While ionic inorganic compounds are solids at room temperature and will usually form crystals, organic ionic liquids are increasingly of interest. Electron configurations of lithium and fluorine. ... Traditionally, inorganic compounds are considered to be of mineral, not biological, origin. ... Ionic liquid An ionic liquid is a liquid that contains essentially only ions. ...

Solubility

Following the aphorism, "like dissolves like", ionic compounds dissolve in polar solvents, especially those which ionize, such as water and ionic liquids. They are usually appreciably soluble in other polar solvents such as alcohols, acetone and dimethyl sulfoxide as well. Ionic compounds tend not to dissolve in nonpolar solvents such as diethyl ether or petrol. A solvent is a liquid that dissolves a solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution. ... Ionic liquid An ionic liquid is a liquid that contains essentially only ions. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The chemical compound acetone (also known as propanone, dimethyl ketone, 2-propanone, propan-2-one and β-ketopropane) is the simplest representative of the ketones. ... Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is the chemical compound with the formula (CH3)2SO. This colorless liquid is an important polar aprotic solvent that dissolves both polar and nonpolar compounds and is miscible in a wide range of organic solvents as well as water. ... A solvent is a liquid that dissolves a solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution. ... This article is about the chemical compound. ... Gasoline, as it is known in North America, or petrol, in many Commonwealth countries (sometimes also called motor spirit) is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ...

When an ionic compound is named, the cation is named first and then the anion. When an elemental anion is named, the suffix, -ide, is added to the name of the element. There are two common types of cations: Type I and Type II. Type I cations have only one charge and their name is simply listed when the compound is named. Type II cations have more than one charge and when the ionic compound is named, a Roman numeral is used to denote the charge of the cation. In addition, there are common polyatomic anions which do not have suffixes in their name such as hypochlorite (ClO^–).