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
Famous quotes containing the words comparison with, comparison and/or bonds:
“Clay answered the petition by declaring that while he looked on the institution of slavery as an evil, it was ‘nothing in comparison with the far greater evil which would inevitably flow from a sudden and indiscriminate emancipation.’”
—State of Indiana, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“When we reflect on our past sentiments and affections, our thought is a faithful mirror, and copies its objects truly; but the colours which it employs are faint and dull, in comparison of those in which our original perceptions were clothed.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)
“Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings ...
And while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high, untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.”
—John Gillespie Magee (c. 1922–1941)