List the similarities and differences between ionic, covalent, and metallic bonds?

1 Answer
Truong-Son N.
Jun 15, 2018

Here's the simplest way to view these:

#ul("Ionic"" "" "" "" ""Covalent"" "" "" "" ""Metallic")#
#"Metal+"" "" "" ""Nonmetal+"" "" "" ""Metal+"#
#"Nonmetal"" "color(white)(/.)"Nonmetal"" "" "" "color(white)(..)"Metal"#

Ionic bonds are in general bonds where each atom significantly differs in electronegativity, the affinity for electrons:

http://www.dummies.com/education/science/

Common examples are #"NaCl"#, #"LiF"#, #"MgBr"_2#, etc., made from elements on opposite sides of the periodic table.

Covalent bonds are chemical bonds formed by sharing electrons between nonmetals:

https://edu.glogster.com/glog/covalent-bonding/

Common examples are #"NH"_3#, #"PCl"_5#, #"CH"_4#, etc., made from elements on the right-hand side of the periodic table.

Metallic bonds are formed by spreading electrons between metal cations in a metallic network:

http://www.geo.arizona.edu/

It could be between the same metal, or different metals, i.e. alloys made from elements on the left-hand side of the periodic table and/or the #d#-block.

A common example is brass, which might have #"Cu"^+# with #"Zn"^(2+)# in a metallic network.

http://www.geocities.jp/ohba_lab_ob_page/Structure/

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