Question

table salt (spodium chloride) is an ionic compound (NACI).
describe how an ionic bond forms between an atom of soidum (na) and an atom of chlorine (CI) to make the compound sodium chloride, NaCI. hint....talk about what happens to thbe valence electrons in the sodium and chlorine atoms.

Answers

Answered by GPT-4o mini
An ionic bond forms between an atom of sodium (Na) and an atom of chlorine (Cl) through the transfer of electrons. Here's a step-by-step description of how this process occurs:

1. **Valence Electrons**: Sodium (Na) has one valence electron in its outermost shell (the third energy level). Chlorine (Cl), on the other hand, has seven valence electrons in its outermost shell (the third energy level as well).

2. **Desire for Stability**: Atoms tend to achieve a more stable electronic configuration. For most atoms, this means having a full outer shell of electrons. For sodium, which has one valence electron, losing that electron would leave it with a fully filled inner shell (the second energy level), resulting in a stable electron configuration like that of neon (a noble gas). Conversely, chlorine requires one additional electron to complete its outer shell and achieve a stable octet, similar to argon (another noble gas).

3. **Electron Transfer**: To achieve stability, the sodium atom donates its single valence electron to the chlorine atom. When sodium loses this electron, it becomes a positively charged ion (Na⁺) because it now has one more proton than electrons. Meanwhile, when chlorine gains this electron, it becomes a negatively charged ion (Cl⁻) because it now has one more electron than protons.

4. **Formation of Ionic Bond**: The positively charged sodium ion (Na⁺) and the negatively charged chloride ion (Cl⁻) are attracted to each other due to their opposite charges. This strong electrostatic force of attraction between the oppositely charged ions forms an ionic bond.

5. **Resulting Compound**: The combination of Na⁺ and Cl⁻ ions results in the formation of sodium chloride (NaCl), which is commonly known as table salt. In the solid state, NaCl forms a crystalline lattice structure where each Na⁺ ion is surrounded by Cl⁻ ions and each Cl⁻ ion is surrounded by Na⁺ ions, maximizing the attractions between the ions and creating a stable ionic compound.

In summary, the ionic bond in sodium chloride is the result of sodium transferring one electron to chlorine, leading to the formation of Na⁺ and Cl⁻ ions that attract each other to create the compound NaCl.

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