The Ionic Bond Transfer of Electrons from One Atom to Another

3 The Ionic Bond Transfer of Electrons from One Atom to Another 

The chemistry of many elements, especially the representative ones, is to attain an outer electron structure like that of the chemically stable noble gases. With the exception of helium, this stable structure consists of eight electrons in the outermost energy level (see Table 11.2). 

An atom that has lost or gained electrons will have a positive or negative charge, depending on which particles (protons or electrons) are in excess. Remember that a charged particle or group of particles is called an ion. 

A chlorine atom with seven electrons in the third energy level needs one electron to pair up with its one unpaired 3p electron to attain the stable outer electron structure of argon. By gaining one electron, the chlorine atom becomes a chloride ion (Cl ), a negatively charged particle containing 17 protons and 18 electrons. This process releases energy  

Consider sodium and chlorine atoms reacting with each other. The 3s electron from the sodium atom transfers to the half-filled 3p orbital in the chlorine atom to form a positive sodium ion and a negative chloride ion. The compound sodium chloride results because the Na and Cl ions are strongly attracted to each other by their opposite electrostatic charges. The force holding the oppositely charged ions together is called an ionic bond  

---

THE IONIC BOND TRANSFER OF ELECTRONS FROM ONE ATOM TO ANOTHER 219... 

---