ionic bond
An
ionic bond is a type of chemical bond formed through an electrostatic attraction between two oppositely charged ions.
Ionic bonds are formed due to the attraction between an atom that has lost one or more electron (known as a cation) and an atom that has gained one or more electrons (known as an
anion). Usually, the cation is a metal atom and the anion is a nonmetal atom.It is important to recognize that pure
ionic bonding - in which one atom "steals" an electron from another - cannot exist: all ionic compounds have some degree of
covalent bonding, or electron sharing. Thus, the term "ionic bond" is given to a bond in which the ionic character is greater than the covalent character - that is, a bond in which a large electronegativity difference exists between the two atoms, causing the bond to be more polar (ionic) than other forms of covalent bonding where electrons are shared
more equally. Bonds with partially ionic and partially covalent character are called polar covalent bonds. Nevertheless, ionic bonding is considered to be a form of noncovalent bonding.