Question

How are ionic compounds formed?

Answer 1

Ionic compounds are neutral compounds made up of positively charged ions known as cations and negatively charged ions known as anions. Ionic compounds are held together by electrostatic forces or ionic bonding. Ionic compounds have high melting and boiling points and are hard and brittle.

Complete answer:
Ionic compounds are generally held together by ionic bonds. Ionic compounds are formed in between species having opposite electrostatic nature. However, this is not the only criterion that must be satisfied. Another important aspect that we must keep in mind is polarizability and the polarizing power of ionic species present in the compound. If either the polarizing power or the polarizability is too high, then they would develop covalent bonding among them and this defeats our purpose of creating an ionic compound.

So, the conclusion is that to create an ionic compound, the first and foremost requirement is to generate ions i.e., charged species namely cations and anions. Anions are species formed when a neutral atom accepts electrons. Whereas Cations are formed when a neutral atom loses electrons. The ions involved should preferably have a large electronegativity difference. Ionic compounds are bound together by electrostatic forces of attraction which are short-range forces. Their intensity decreases with increase in the distance between the species.

Note: According to Fazan’s rule, when we talk about forming ionic compounds, the size of the cation must be preferably large with a small value of charge on them i.e., it should have low polarizing power. The size of the anion must be preferably small so that it must have low polarizability.