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How do ionic bonds form between atoms?
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principles of physical science
Figure 1: Data in the table of the Galileo experiment. The tangent to the curve is drawn at t = 0.6.
An ionic bond forms through the permanent transfer of valence electrons from one atom to another, typically occurring between a metal and a nonmetal.123
The process involves the following steps:
- Electron Transfer: The metallic atom loses one or more valence electrons to become a positively charged cation, while the nonmetallic atom gains those electrons to become a negatively charged anion.12
- Electrostatic Attraction: Once these oppositely charged ions are in close proximity, their mutual electrostatic attraction locks them together.143
- Lattice Formation: To achieve the greatest stability, these ions arrange themselves into an ionic lattice structure, where positive and negative charges alternate and balance each other, resulting in a net zero charge for the overall compound.512
This type of bonding is most likely to occur between elements with a large difference in electronegativity, as this facilitates the complete transfer of electrons rather than their sharing. The formation is energetically favorable when the resulting lattice energy is sufficient to compensate for the energy required to form the ions.625