What is the difference between ionic compounds and polar covalent compunds?
Answers
An ionic bond is formed between an element that has lost electron/s and another element that has gained electron/s. The element that has lost the electron/s becomes positively charged atom, while the one that has gained the electron/s becomes negatively charged. Due to the attraction between the positive and the negative charge, a bond is formed between the two charged ions. Eg for this is table salt where sodium looses electrons and chlorine gains the electron.
In polar covalent bond, electrons are shared, so there is no loose or gain of electrons. The reason why such bonds can become polar is sometimes when the electro negativity of the elements is very different, the electrons tend to spend most of their time around one atom; therefore making the whole structure polar. Eg for this is Water where the electrons shared spend most of their time around oxygen instead of the two hydrogen atoms which make the covalent bond polar. Remember that a covalent bond forms as a result of sharing of electrons and it does not change in polar covalent bonds.
Answer:
Ionic compounds are formed by the transfer of electrons that are positively and negatively charged, whereas, covalent compounds are formed by sharing the electrons. ... In an ionic compound, bonding involves a metal and nonmetal, whereas, in the covalent compound, bonding is between nonmetals.