Question

Which of the following values best classifies a bond between 2 atoms as being ionic?

Answer 1

Answer is: A. An electronegativity difference of greater than 1.7 between the atoms.

Electronegativity (χ) is a chemical property that describes the tendency of an atom to attract a shared pair of electrons towards itself.

Atoms with higher electronegativity attracts more electrons towards it, electrons are closer to that atom.

For example, in ionic salt sodium fluoride (NaF), fluorine has electronegativity approximately χ = 4 and sodium χ = 1 (Δχ = 4 - 1; Δχ = 3), fluorine attracts electron and it has negative charge and sodium has positive charge.

Answer 2

The general rule followed is that if electronegativity difference is greater than 2, then it is considered an ionic bond. An ionic bond is a type of bond characterizing a transfer of electrons within a bond. Common examples are salts which adds that ionic bonds are common between a metal and a nonmetal. Therefore, the best answer from above is letter B.