Answer:
The key to understanding why ionic and covalent compounds have different properties from each other is understanding what's going on with the electrons in a compound. Ionic bonds form when atoms have different electronegativity values from each other. When the electronegativity values are comparable, covalent bonds form.
But, what does this mean? Electronegativity is a measure of how easily an atom attracts bonding electrons. If two atoms attract electrons more or less equally, they share the electrons. Sharing electrons results in less polarity or inequality of charge distribution. In contrast, if one atom attracts bonding electrons more strongly than the other, the bond is polar.
Ionic compounds dissolve in polar solvents (like water), stack neatly on each other to form crystals, and require a lot of energy for their chemical bonds to break. Covalent compounds can be either polar or nonpolar, but they contain weaker bonds than ionic compounds because they are sharing electrons. So, their melting and boiling points are lower and they are softer.
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