another, so great is the difference between their electron hungers Chemical compounds held together by ionic bonds don’t simply dissolve in water; they come apart into separate ions, or atoms that are electrically charged because they either carry extra electrons or gave up some of their electrons (The term was coined by the pioneer of electricity, Michael Faraday, from the Greek word for “going,” to name those electrically charged particles that move when an electrical field is set up in a water solution.) Salt, our most common seasoning, is a compound of sodium and chlorine held together with ionic bonds In a solid crystal of pure salt, positively charged sodium ions alternate with negatively charged chloride ions, the sodiums having lost their electrons to the chlorines Because several positive sodium ions are always in a state of attraction to several negative chloride ions, we can’t really speak of individual molecules of salt, with one particular sodium atom bonded to a particular chlorine atom In water, salt dissolves into separate positive sodium ions and negative chloride ions Ionic and covalent bonds Left: An ionic bond results when an atom completely captures one or more electrons of another atom, and the two atoms experience an attractive force (dotted line) due to their opposite electrical charges Right: In the covalent bond, atoms share electrons, and thereby form stable combinations called molecules Strong Bonds That Make Molecules A second kind of chemical bond, called covalent (from the Latin, “of equal power”), produces s t a b l e molecules When two atoms have ... results when an atom completely captures one or more electrons of another atom, and the two atoms experience an attractive force (dotted line) due to their opposite electrical charges Right: In the covalent bond, atoms share electrons,... atoms share electrons, and thereby form stable combinations called molecules Strong Bonds That Make Molecules A second kind of chemical bond, called covalent (from the Latin, ? ?of equal power”), produces...particular sodium atom bonded to a particular chlorine atom In water, salt dissolves into separate positive sodium ions and negative chloride ions Ionic and covalent bonds Left: An ionic bond results when an atom completely captures one