Ionic compounds are formed by the electrical charges of positively charged metals and negatively charged nonmetals, creating crystalline structures with high melting and boiling points. They are soluble in water and good conductors of electricity. Naming conventions follow the cation-anion structure, and electronegativity differences determine covalent versus ionic bonds. Metals are found in nature as ionic compounds and are purified through extraction.
Ionic compounds are chemical compounds bonded together by electrical charges of individually charged ion atoms. Typically, an ionic compound is composed of positively charged metals and negatively charged nonmetals and form crystalline structures. Ordinary salt – NaCl – is one of the most common ionic compounds found in nature, consisting of the basic form of a bond between a positively charged sodium metal atom and a negatively charged chlorine atom.
Properties of ionic compounds include their formation into crystal lattice structures and their very high boiling and melting points. Their brittleness also gives them a tendency to fracture into smaller crystals of equal size when struck with sufficient force. Crystalline ionic salts are also soluble in water and, when dissolved in water or in a pure liquid state, in a molten state, are good conductors of electricity.
The naming of ionic compounds has always followed the tradition of using the cation, or positively charged ion, first and putting the name of the negatively charged anion on top of it. This is why the salt is known as sodium chloride, with other examples being potassium iodide, silver nitrate, and mercuric chloride. The total number of positive cation atoms and negative anion atoms is not included in the naming structure, since any ionic compound balances these charges. A compound such as silver nitrate with the chemical formula of AgNO3 does not require a plural for the nitrate group. However, ionic elements such as iron which can have a positive charge of two or three are commonly referred to with reference to this charge, such as Fe+2 which is called iron(II).
In their natural form, ionic compounds never have a strictly ionic or neutral charge and often have some degree of covalency: the sharing of electrons between different shells of atomic energy. Electronegativity affects the strength of the negative charge in ionic compounds, with the Pauling scale ranking fluorine as the most electronegative element with a rating of 4.0. Other elements, such as cesium, are the least electronegative at a level of 0.7. This varying level of electronegativity is used to help define covalent versus ionic bonds. No electronegativity difference between bonded atoms represents a pure, nonpolar covalent bond, while a large electronegativity difference represents an ionic bond.
Metals are found in nature in the form of ionic compounds. This is because metals are largely reactive with carbon and oxygen in the presence of water, as well as elements such as sulfur, phosphorus and silicon. Therefore, metal purification generally begins with the extraction of ionic compounds, such as sulfides, phosphates, carbonates, and most commonly oxides to produce pure elemental metals that can be used in industry.
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