Comparison With Covalent Bonds
In an ionic bond, the atoms are bound by attraction of opposite ions, whereas, in a covalent bond, atoms are bound by sharing electrons to attain stable electron configurations. In covalent bonding, the molecular geometry around each atom is determined by VSEPR rules, whereas, in ionic materials, the geometry follows maximum packing rules.
Purely ionic bonds cannot exist, as the proximity of the entities involved in the bond allows some degree of sharing electron density between them. Therefore, all ionic bonds have some covalent character.
Thus, an ionic bond is considered a bond where the ionic character is greater than the covalent character. The larger the difference in electronegativity between the two atoms involved in the bond, the more ionic (polar) the bond is. Bonds with partially ionic and partially covalent character are called polar covalent bonds.
For example, Na–Cl and Mg–O bonds have a few percent covalency, while Si–O bonds are usually ~50% ionic and ~50% covalent.
Read more about this topic: Ionic Bond
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