#ionic bonds

-- made of one or more cations paired with one or more anions

-- usually the cations are metals and the anions are nonmetals

-- metals tend to lose electrons

-- nonmetals tend to gain electrons

-- when a metal and nonmetal combine, one or more electrons transfer from the metal to the nonmetal

-- this creates positive and negative ions that are attracted to each other

-- we can assume a compound made of a metal and a nonmetal is ionic

-- basic unit is the formula unit      -- smallest electrically neutral collection of ions      -- do not exist as discrete entities but part of a larger three-dimensional array

source

The Scientific Research Notes Of S. Sunkavally (years: 2002-2011).