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In the simplest case, the cation is a metal atom and the anion is a nonmetal atom, but these ions can be more complex, e.g. polyatomic ions like NH + 4 or SO 2− 4. In simpler words, an ionic bond results from the transfer of electrons from a metal to a non-metal to obtain a full valence shell for both atoms.
Classic examples are metals such as copper and aluminum, but some materials are metals in an electronic sense but have negligible metallic bonding in a mechanical or thermodynamic sense (see intermediate forms). Metallic solids have, by definition, no band gap at the Fermi level and hence are conducting.
Metals are insoluble in water or organic solvents, unless they undergo a reaction with them. Typically, this is an oxidation reaction that robs the metal atoms of their itinerant electrons, destroying the metallic bonding. However metals are often readily soluble in each other while retaining the metallic character of their bonding.
In this type of bonding, each atom in a metal donates one or more electrons to a "sea" of electrons that reside between many metal atoms. In this sea, each electron is free (by virtue of its wave nature) to be associated with a great many atoms at once. The bond results because the metal atoms become somewhat positively charged due to loss of ...
A solid compound containing metals can also be an insulator if the valence electrons of the metal atoms are used to form ionic bonds. For example, although elemental sodium is a metal, solid sodium chloride is an insulator, because the valence electron of sodium is transferred to chlorine to form an ionic bond, and thus that electron cannot be ...
[16] [17] [18] A molecule may be homonuclear, that is, it consists of atoms of one chemical element, as with two atoms in the oxygen molecule (O 2); or it may be heteronuclear, a chemical compound composed of more than one element, as with water (two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom; H 2 O). A molecule is the smallest unit of a substance that ...
A covalent bond forming H 2 (right) where two hydrogen atoms share the two electrons. A covalent bond is a chemical bond that involves the sharing of electrons to form electron pairs between atoms.
The chemical elements can be broadly divided into metals, metalloids, and nonmetals according to their shared physical and chemical properties.All elemental metals have a shiny appearance (at least when freshly polished); are good conductors of heat and electricity; form alloys with other metallic elements; and have at least one basic oxide.