Electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions in a chemical compound. Such a bond forms when one or more electrons are transferred from one neutral atom (typically a metal, which becomes a cation) to another (typically a nonmetallic element or group, which becomes an anion).
The two types of ion are held together by electrostatic forces in a solid that does not comprise neutral molecules as such; rather, each ion has neighbours of the opposite charge in an ordered overall crystalline structure. When, for example, crystals of common salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) are dissolved in water, they dissociate (&see; dissociation) into two kinds of ions in equal numbers, sodium cations (Na+) and chloride anions (Cl−). &Seealso; bonding; covalent bond.
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