Examples of Ionic Bonds and Compounds

Here are examples of ionic bonds and ionic compounds:

NaBr: sodium bromide
KBr: potassium bromide
NaCl: sodium chloride
NaF: sodium fluoride
KI: potassium iodide
KCl: potassium chloride
CaCl_2: calcium chloride
K₂O: potassium oxide
MgO: magnesium oxide

Note that ionic compounds are named with the cation or positively-charged atom written before the anion or negatively-charged atom. In other words, the element symbol for the metal is written before the symbol for the nonmetal.

Recognizing Compounds With Ionic Bonds

You can recognize ionic compounds because they consist of a metal bonded to a nonmetal. Ionic bonds form between two atoms that have different electronegativity values. Because the ability to attract electrons is so different between the atoms, it's like one atom donates its electron to the other atom in the chemical bond.

More Bonding Examples

In addition to ionic bond examples, it may be helpful to know examples of compounds that contain covalent bonds and also compounds that contain both ionic and covalent chemical bonds.