Question

Does potassium nitrate (KN03) incorporate ionic bonding, covalent bonding, or both? Explain.

Answer 1

Answer: $KNO_3$ incorporates both ionic bonding and covalent bonding.

Explanation:

A covalent bond is formed when an element shares its valence electron with another element. This bond is formed between two non metals.

An ionic bond is formed when an element completely transfers its valence electron to another element. The element which donates the electron is known as electropositive element and the element which accepts the electrons is known as electronegative element. This bond is formed between a metal and an non-metal.

For formation of a neutral ionic compound, the charges on cation and anion must be balanced. The cation is formed by loss of electrons by metals and anions are formed by gain of electrons by non metals.

Here potassium is having an oxidation state of +1 called as $K^{+}$ cation and nitrate $NO_3^{-}$ is an anion with oxidation state of -1. Thus they combine and their oxidation states are exchanged and written in simplest whole number ratios to give neutral $KNO_3$. $NO_3^-$ is formed by sharing of electrons between two non metals nitrogen and oxygen.

Thus $KNO_3$ incorporates both ionic bonding and covalent bonding.