Talk:Ionic bond
From Academic Kids
How about a nice caption to say something about the figure - what it represents, how it was made, etc.? -- Marj Tiefert, Wednesday, May 15, 2002
I've done a faily major reformat of this page. If it looks bad to anyone please reformat, or alternativly say what the problem is on this page along with their browser and screen resolution. I'm a bit worried about the equation overlapping the table on the right, which I think it might do with a small enough screen size Theresa knott
- I think the phosphorus anion is fairly unlikely to exist, the third ionisation energy is probably prohibitivly large. In addition to this, since P is a relatively large atom anyway, there will almost undoubtedly be considerable covalency in the bond. Good old NaCl, although for less exotic, is probably a better example. jwasey 16:16, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Difference with covalent bonds
Would be great if someone could add a paragraph discussing how exactly they're different from covalent bonds. Tempshill 20:46, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- I think some sort of general bonding page needs to be created which explains either end of the covalent/ionic continuum but emphasises that nothing really exists in these theoretical bonding modes. I don't know how to do this, is it possible? jwasey 16:16, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Why does it happen?
Since the Lithium and Fluorine atoms are both electrically neutral prior to bonding, what causes an electron to "leave" the Lithium atom for the Fluorine atom in the first place? --RussAbbott 02:27, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
- Atoms always "try" to obtain the most stable electron configuration (that of a noble gas). As the Li athom has 1 electron in its last electron shield, it gives up 1 electron and loses its last shield: the next outer shield has 8 electrons, which is a stable configuration. The F has 7 electrons in its last shield: it catches the electron the Li gave up and then has 8 electrons in its last shield: another stable configuration. Maybe this explanation should be in the main article? -- Habbit 17:13, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
- Is it really the case that if there were a free electron floating about in the vicinity of a Fluorine atom, the Fluorine atom would capture it, thereby becoming electrically negative in the process? And is it really the case that a sole Lithium atom expels its sole outershell electron so that it can empty its outermost shell--becoming electrically positive in the process? Neither of these seem likely. Perhaps the two together make more sense. But what is the force that causes it to happen? It isn't an electrical attraction or repulsion (since the two atoms are neutral). In fact, the electron is going in the "wrong" direction with respect to both the Lithium and Fluorine atoms. So it must be something else. What is it? --RussAbbott 23:48, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
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doesn't litium have three electrons? I don't think the diagram is right
