Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________

Student Exploration: Ionic Bonds

Vocabulary: chemical family, ion, ionic bond, ionization energy, metal, nonmetal, octet rule,
shell, valence electron

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. Nate and Clara are drawing pictures with markers. There are 8 markers in a set. Nate has 9
markers and Clara has 7. What can Nate and Clara do so that each of them has a full set?

____ Nate can give Clara 1 marker, so they each have a full set
_____________________________________________________________________

2. Maggie is sitting at a table with Fred and Florence. Maggie has 10 markers, but Fred and
Florence each have only 7 markers. How can they share markers so each has 8?

___________ Maggie has to give away 2 markers to Fred and Florence so each has 8
______________________________________________________________

Gizmo Warm-up
Just like students sharing markers, atoms sometimes share or swap electrons. By doing this,
atoms form bonds. The Ionic Bonds Gizmo allows you to explore how ionic bonds form.

To begin, check that Sodium (Na) and Chlorine (Cl) are

selected from the menus at right. Click Play ( ) to see
electrons orbiting the nucleus of each atom. (Note: These
atom models are simplified and not meant to be realistic.)

1. Each atom consists of a central nucleus and several shells that contain electrons. The
outermost electrons are called valence electrons.

How many valence electrons does each atom have? Sodium: ____1__ Chlorine:
___7___

2. Click Pause ( ). Elements can be classified as metals and nonmetals. Metals do not hold
on to their valence electrons very tightly, while nonmetals hold their electrons tightly.
Ionization energy is a measure of how tightly the valence electrons are held.

2019
A. Try pulling a valence electron away from each atom. Based on this experiment,

which atom is a metal? ________Sodium______ Which is a nonmetal?

____Chlorine___________

B. Try moving an electron from the metal to the nonmetal. What happens? __________

_________ Sodium becomes a cation, and chlorine becomes an anion

__________________________________________________________

2019
 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
• Click Reset.
Ions
• Check that sodium and chlorine are still selected.

Introduction: Some of the particles that make up atoms have an electrical charge. Electrons
are negatively charged, while protons are positively charged. Particles with opposite charges
(+ and –) attract, while particles with the same charge (+ and + or – and –) repel.

Question: What happens when atoms gain or lose electrons?

1. Count: Electrons move around the nucleus of atoms in specific shells, shown by the rings
around the atoms in the Gizmo. The first ring holds two electrons, and the second holds
eight. (If you like, you can hide the inner electrons by selecting Hide inner electrons.)

A. Observe the sodium and chlorine atoms. How many electrons are there total in each
atom?

Sodium: _______________11_electrons____ Chlorine: ______17

electrons_____________

B. Each atom is neutrally charged, which means that each atom has the same number
of protons and electrons. Based on this, how many protons are in each atom?

Sodium: ____11 protons________________ Chlorine: ____17 protons

_______________

2. Observe: Most atoms are stable with a configuration of eight valence electrons. This is
known as the octet rule. How many valence electrons does each atom have?

Sodium: ___1 valence electron_________________ Chlorine: ____7

valence electron_______________

3. Form a bond: Each electron has a charge of 1–, and each proton has a charge of 1+. You
can calculate the charge of an atom by subtracting the number of electrons from the number
of protons. Move an electron from the sodium to the chlorine atom.

A. What are the charges of each atom now? Sodium: ___+1__ Chlorine: _-
1____

Turn on Show charge to check. These charged atoms are called ions.

B. Is each ion stable? Explain. _ Yes, each ion is stable. Chlorine only has 7 valence
electrons, so gaining 1 more would lead to a stable full octet. Sodium on the other
hand has 1 valence electron, by losing this electron it has just a regular shell of 8
electrons, also becoming a stable octet.
__________________________________________

2019
 ___________________________________________________________________

Click Check in the lower right corner of the Gizmo to check.

4. Think and discuss: Why is there an attraction between the two ions in this chemical bond?
There is an attraction between these two ions in this chemical bond because there is a
positively charged atom (cation) and a negatively charged atom (anion).

_________________________________________________________________________
 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity B:
• Click Reset. Turn off Show charge.
Ionic compounds
• Select Lithium (Li) and Oxygen (O).

Question: How are ionic compounds formed?

1. Observe: Look at the purple lithium atom and the red oxygen atom. Recall that most atoms
are stable when their outermost ring has eight electrons. Some atoms, such as lithium and
beryllium, are stable when their outermost ring has two electrons.

A. How many electrons will the lithium atom give up to become stable? __1
eelectron___________

B. How many electrons does the oxygen atom need to become stable? ___2
electrons_________

C. Can a stable compound be made from these two atoms? Explain why or why not.

__ A stable compound cannot be made from these two atoms. Oxygen needs 2
electrons to have a stable octet, and be happy. Though Lithium cannot give up 2 electrons without being
unhappy due to the fact that it would not have a stable octet
_________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

2. Form bonds: Click Add metal to add another lithium atom, and then transfer electrons from
the lithium to the oxygen. Click Check.

A. Did you make a stable compound? ____yes___

B. Turn on Show formula. What is the formula of this compound? _____ Li2O
___________

C. Turn on Show charge. What is the charge of each ion? Li __+1___ Li _-2____ O
__+1___

3. Practice: Use the Gizmo to create stable compounds from the combinations given below.
After transferring electrons, arrange the atoms to demonstrate the attraction between
positively charged ions and negatively charged ions. Click Check to check each compound.

For each compound, click the camera ( ) icon to take a snapshot. Right-click the
image, and click Copy Image. Paste each image into a blank document to turn in with this
worksheet. Write the ionic charges (such as Ca2+) and chemical formulas below.

Ionic charges Chemical formula

A. Lithium and fluorine: Li _+1_ F -1__

__LiF_______________

B. Beryllium and oxygen: Be +2__ O _-2_

____BeO_____________

C. Magnesium and fluorine: Mg _+2_ F _-1_ ____ MgF2

_____________

D. Aluminum and chlorine: Al __+3 Cl __-1 ___ AlCl3

______________

E. Beryllium and nitrogen: Be _+2_ N _-3_ ______

Be3N2 ___________
 Get the Gizmo ready:
Extension:
• Select Lithium (Li) from the Select a metal list.
Chemical families
• You will need a periodic table for this activity.

Introduction: The periodic table arranges elements by size and property. The vertical columns
represent chemical families, or groups of elements with similar chemical properties.

Question: How are elements arranged into chemical families?

1. Observe: Drag the nonmetal into the trash ( ) so there is only the one lithium atom visible.

A. How many valence electrons does lithium have? __1____

B. Now look at your periodic table. Find lithium (Li) in the first column. Other than

lithium, which element from the Gizmo is also in this column?

___sodium_______________

C. Choose this element. How many valence electrons does this element have?

___1___

2. Gather data: Four other pairs of elements in the same chemical family are listed below. List
the number of valence electrons in each element.

Beryllium Nitrogen ____5_

Oxygen ___6__ Fluorine ___7__
__2___ Phosphorus
Sulfur ___6__ Chlorine ___7__
Magnesium 2_____ __5___

3. Analyze: What pattern do you see? _____________________________________________

The pattern I observe is that elements in the same family have the same amount of valence
electrons
_________________________________________________________________________

4. Make a rule: Based on your data, how are elements arranged into chemical families?

___________________ Elements are arranged into chemical families based on the number of
valence electrons they each
have
______________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________
5. Infer: Look at your periodic table. How many valence electrons would you find for elements

in each family? Boron family: _3____ Carbon family: ___4__ Neon family:

__8___

6. Think and discuss: How do you think the number of valence electrons relates to an

element’s chemical properties? __ The number of valence electrons relates to an

element’s chemical properties in such a way for

7. chemical bonds to be formed. In an ionic bond, metals are more likely to give up their

valence electron, and nonmetals are more likely to gain/receive valence electrons

______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________