Question

➔ Which compound has both ionic and covalent bonds? A. Ammonium chloride B. Carbon dioxide C. Ethyl ethanoate D. Sodium chloride

Answer 1

Answer:

Choice A. Ammonium chloride.

Explanation:

Consider the bonds in each of the four compounds.

Ammonium chloride

Ammonium chloride $\rm NH_4Cl$ is an ionic compound. Each

The $\rm {NH_4}^{+}$ and $\rm Cl^{-}$ ions in $\rm NH_4Cl$ are connected with ionic bonds.

What make $\rm NH_4Cl$ special is that its cation $\rm {NH_4}^{+}$ is polyatomic. In other words, each $\rm {NH_4}^{+}$ ion contains more than one atoms. These atoms (one $\rm N$ atom and four $\rm H$ atoms) are connected with covalent bonds. Therefore, $\rm NH_4Cl$ has both ionic and covalent bonds.

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide $\rm CO_2$ is a covalent compound. Each $\rm CO_2$ molecule contains two $\rm C=O$ double bonds in total. $\rm CO_2$ molecules have no ionic bond.

Ethyl ethanoate

The name "ethyl ethanoate" might sound like the name of a salt (think about sodium ethanoate.) However, in reality, ethyl ethanoate $\rm CH_3COOCH_2CH3$ is an ester. The "ethyl" here refers to the $\rm -OCH_2CH3$ part, originating from ethanol. On the other hand, "ethanoate" refers to the $\rm CH_3C(O)-$ part, which can be obtained from ethanoic acid.

These two parts are connected with a covalent $\rm C-O$ single bond. (The $\rm C$ in ethanoic acid is connected to the $\rm O$ in ethanol.) As a result, there's no ionic bond in ethyl ethanoate, either.

Sodium chloride

Sodium chloride $\rm NaCl$ is an ionic compound. Both the $\rm Na^{+}$ ion and the $\rm Cl^{-}$ are monoatomic. While the $\rm Na^{+}$ and $\rm Cl^{-}$ in sodium chloride are connected with ionic bonds, neither $\rm Na^{+}$ nor $\rm Cl^{-}$ contains covalent bond.