Understanding Ions and Ionic Bonds in Chemistry

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channel in this video you are going to learn part three of topic two atoms elements and compounds

our first topic of discussion is ions and ionic bonds an ion is an atom or a group of

atoms that has either a positive or negative charge remember atoms become ions to

achieve a stable full outer shell of electrons this can be done in two ways by giving away or losing

electrons or by taking in electrons if it loses electrons it becomes positively charged known as a

cat ion and if it gains or takes in electrons it becomes negatively charged

called an N ion so positive ions are known as cat ions and negative ions are known as an

ions here's a small tip to help an ionic bond is a strong electrostatic attraction between

oppositely charged ions it occurs between metal and non-metal

atoms we are expected to understand the formation of ionic bonds between elements from group one and group s

let's first understand how atoms form ions so we know atoms become ions when they aim for a complete outer shell of

electrons for example let's look at sodium sodium is a group one element so let's look at its electron configuration

first sodium has 11 electrons with its electron Arrangement as 28 1 meaning it has one electron in its

outer shell to get a full outer shell it has two options it could gain seven more

electrons to fill its outer shell but that's less likely alternatively it can lose one electron

leaving it with eight in the outer shell which is full now which option is simpler gaining

seven electrons or losing one electron losing one electron is much easier so that's what sodium does it gives away an

electron to reach a full outer shell so when a sodium atom with 11 electrons becomes a sodium ion it loses one

electron leaving it with 10 electrons when representing an ion we enclose its electron configuration

within brackets and include the charge as a superscript to show the ion's electrical state so why does sodium have

one positive charge when it loses an electron it becomes positively charged because it has more protons than

electrons creating an imbalance let's look at chlorine chlorine is a group seven element and

has an atomic number of 17 so its electron configuration is 28 7 this means it has seven electrons

in its outer shell to achieve a full outer shell chlorine can either gain one electron if it adds just one more

electron to its outer shell it will have eight which is a full outer shell or it can lose seven electrons so if it gets

rid of all seven of its outer electrons the inner part with eight electrons becomes the new outer part that would

also be full since eight electrons are the most it can hold now think about it is it easier to

gain one electron or lose seven gaining one is much simpler so that's what really happens chlorine

gains an extra electron to get a full out of shell turning into a chloride ion so when a chlorine atom which contains

17 electrons becomes a chloride ion it gains one electron leaving it with 18 electrons so the chloride ion can be

represented in this way to show its electron configuration with a full outer shell and a negative

charge why does chloride ion have one negative charge when it gains an electron it becomes negatively charged

because it has more electrons than protons again causing an imbalance metals tend to lose electrons

and become positively charged cat ions while non-metals often gain electrons and become negatively charged n

ions okay now that we understand how ions are formed let's look learn how an ionic bond between elements from Group 1

and group seven forms sodium an element from group one has one electron in its outermost

shell chlorine a group seven element has seven electrons in its outermost shell sodium wants to get rid of its one

electron to achieve a stable electron configuration while chlorine desires to gain one more

electron to fill its outermost shell sodium willingly donates its electron to chlorine resulting in the

formation of a positively charged sodium ion na A+ and a negatively charged chloride ion CL

minus the electrostatic IC attraction between these oppositely charged ions forms a strong ionic bond resulting in

the creation of sodium chloride na commonly known as table salt an ionic bond is a strong electrostatic

attraction between oppositely charged ions Dot and cross diagrams are a simple way to show how ionic bonds form between

elements in these diagrams we use chemical symbols like na for sodium and cl for

chlorine we show only the outer electrons as dots for metal elements like sodium or crosses for non-metal

elements like chlorine then we show how electrons are transferred sodium gives away one of its

outer electrons to chlorine sodium becomes na+ and chlorine becomes CL

minus brackets are used to indicate the overall charge is evenly spread and the charge of each ion is displayed in the

upper right corner ionic compounds have a giant ltis structure it is a regular arrangement of

alternating positive and negative ions positive and negative ions take turns creating a stable chessboard like

pattern due to their attraction it's like building a strong 3D Crystal puzzle next let's learn about the

properties of ionic compounds ionic compounds have high melting points and boiling

points ionic compounds have very strong electrostatic bonds between oppositely charged ions that hold their particles

together to make them melt or boil you need to give them a a lot of heat because those bonds are tough to

break so they have high melting and boiling points ionic compounds have good

electrical conductivity when aquous that is when dissolved or molten and poor when

solid in their solid form ions in ionic compounds are stuck in place so they can't conduct

electricity but when you dissolve them in water or melt them the ions can move around and carry electrical charge so

they become good conductors in these states that concludes part three of topic two atoms elements and

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