Ionic compounds are usually formed when metal cations bond with nonmetal anions. There exist several prominent characteristics of ionic bonds and here is a list of the same. Instead, they are often hard solids, always made up of ions held together by strong electrostatic forces of attraction between ions with opposite charge. » Owing to the fact that metals tend to lose electrons and non-metals tend to gain electrons, ionic bonding is common between metals and non-metals. Ions are atoms that have satisfied the octet rule The process of melting an ionic compound requires the addition of large amounts of energy in order to break all of the ionic bonds in the crystal. Covalent compounds tend to be more flammable than ionic compounds. Ionic bond is formed by transfer of electrons from one atom to another. Comparison of Properties of Ionic and Covalent Compounds. Because of the nature of ionic and covalent bonds, the materials produced by those bonds tend to have quite different macroscopic properties. Ionic compounds have high melting and boiling points because force of attraction between ions of ionic compounds is very strong. Ionic bonding refers to the ⦠The only common exception I know to this is when ammonium is the cation - there's no metal in ammonium, but it forms ionic compounds anyhow. In this one atom can donate electrons to achieve the inert gas electron configuration and the other atom needs electrons to achieve the inert gas configuration. Solids do not conduct electricity . Ionic Bond. Ionic Bonding and the Physical Properties of Ionic Compounds Chemistry Tutorial Key Concepts. Ionic compounds are brittle. An ionic solid is made up of positive ions (cations) and negative ions (anions) held together by electrostatic forces in a rigid array or lattice. Covalent compounds usually have lower enthalpies of fusion and vaporization than ionic compounds. A metallic bond is a chemical bond, in which the atoms do not share or exchange electrons to bond together. Maybe you'll be interested in comparison of properties of ionic and covalent compound so here is a link where you can learn it. If you know the chemical formula of a compound, you can predict whether it contains ionic bonds, covalent bonds, or a mixture of bond types. Properties of Ionic Compounds : Some Common Features of Materials with Ionic Bonds: Hard ; Form crystal lattices not molecules ; Good insulators ; High melting points/ Boiling Points; Conduct electricity when dissolved in water or as a liquid. Ionic bond is the type of bond in which electrons can be transferred from one atom to another, leading to the formation of positive and negative ions. This makes ionic compounds solid. Nonmetals bond to each other via covalent bonds while oppositely charged ions, such as metals and nonmetals, form ionic bonds.Compounds which contain polyatomic ions may have both ionic and covalent bonds. The presence of ionic bonds affects the chemical and physical properties of the resulting compounds. The atoms of covalent materials are bound tightly to each other in stable molecules, but those molecules are generally not very strongly attracted to other molecules in the material. Ionic bond has greater force of attraction because of which ions attract each other strongly. An ionic bond is a chemical bond, in which one or more electrons are wholly transferred from an atom of one element to the atom of the other, and the elements are held together by the force of attraction due to the opposite polarity of the charge. Because of the many simultaneous attractions between cations and anions that occur, ionic crystal lattices are very strong. Properties of ionic compounds: Non-directional nature of ionic bond: These compounds do not exist as individual molecules. The electrostatic attraction between positive and negative ions holds the compounds together. For example, sodium chloride has a melting temperature of about 800 o C. Metals having 1,2,3 electrons in their outer shell donate electrons. When dissolved in water, they don't conduct electricity. Properties of Ionic compound: Ionic compounds are solid.