Question

What are (i) ionic compounds, and (ii) molecular compounds ? Give two examples of each type of compounds.

Answer 1

Ionic Compounds: Ionic compounds that consist of oppositely-charged ions held together by strong electrostatic forces. In an ionic compound, positively-charged ions, cations, and negatively-charged ions, anions, are chemically bonded by ionic bonds.
Examples of ionic compounds: NaCl – It comprises positively-charged sodium ions chemically bonded to the negatively-charged chloride ions.
Similarly, CuSO₄ comprises positively-charged copper ions chemically bonded to the negatively-charged sulphate ions.
Molecular compounds: Molecular compounds consist of molecules of two or more elements that are chemically bonded. Molecular compounds are made up of electrically-neutral molecules and not electrically-charged ions.
Examples of molecular compounds: SO₂ – It consists of electrically-neutral sulphur chemically bonded to two atoms of oxygen.
Similarly, NH₃ consists of electrically-neutral nitrogen atom chemically bonded to three atoms of hydrogen.