Understanding Ionic Bonding Step by Step
Part of Ionic Bonding — GCSE Chemistry
This deep dive covers Understanding Ionic Bonding Step by Step within Ionic Bonding for GCSE Chemistry. Revise Ionic Bonding in Bonding & Structure for GCSE Chemistry with 27 exam-style questions and 20 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 2 of 15 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 2 of 15
Practice
27 questions
Recall
20 flashcards
🔬 Understanding Ionic Bonding Step by Step
Let's walk through sodium chloride (NaCl) — table salt:
• Electron configuration: 2,8,1
• Has 1 electron in outer shell
• Loses this electron to achieve a stable 2,8 configuration (like neon)
• 11 protons, 11 electrons → neutral
• Electron configuration: 2,8,7
• Has 7 electrons in outer shell — one electron short of a stable configuration
• Gains 1 electron to achieve a stable 2,8,8 configuration (like argon)
• 17 protons, 17 electrons → neutral
• Sodium's outer electron jumps to chlorine
• This is a chemical reaction — atoms change!
• Neither atom is neutral anymore
• Sodium: 11 protons, 10 electrons → Na⁺ (positive ion = CATION)
• Chlorine: 17 protons, 18 electrons → Cl⁻ (negative ion = ANION)
• Both now have full outer shells!
• Na⁺ and Cl⁻ are oppositely charged
• Opposite charges attract (electrostatic attraction)
• This attraction IS the ionic bond
• Very strong — takes lots of energy to break!
Why do Group 1 metals form +1 ions? They have 1 outer electron to lose.
Why do Group 2 metals form +2 ions? They have 2 outer electrons to lose.
Why do Group 7 elements form -1 ions? They are 1 electron short of a stable full outer shell.
Why do Group 6 elements form -2 ions? They are 2 electrons short of a stable full outer shell.
The Charge Rule: The charge on an ion = number of electrons lost or gained. Metals lose electrons (positive charge), non-metals gain electrons (negative charge). The number equals how far they are from a full shell!