EllenCampbell

SteveSmith
Chemistry
12November2014
IonicandCovalentBondLab
Introduction
Theinquiryintobondinglaballowedforexperimentstodetermineifthegivenunknown
substancesareionicallybondedorcovalentlybonded.Toidentifythetypeofbondinginthese
substancesconductivity,meltingpoint,solubilityweretestedandthemolecularstructurewas
observed.Thesetestshowedthechemicalandphysicalpropertiesofeachsubstance,which
explainedthedifferencesbetweenthetypesofbondingandallowedforidentificationofthebond
ofeachsubstance.
Ionicbondingisatransferofvalenceelectronstocompleteanatomsoutershell.This
transferoccursbetweenoppositelychargedionsthatarestronglyattachedtoeachotherina
tightlypackednetwork.Anionicbondonlyoccursbetweenametalandnonmetal.Metalslose
theirelectronsandbecomepositivelychargedcations,wherenonmetalsreceivethemetals
electronsbecomingmorenegativeanions,creatinganeutralchargedatom.Ionicbondsare
networksolids,whichresultsinastrongattractionandaunifiedshapegivingthesubstancea
crystallinestructure.Propertiesofionicbondsarecrystallattices,highmeltingpoint,crystalline
shape,conductselectricitywhendissolved,usuallyverysolubleinwater.Acovalentbondisa
sharingofvalenceelectronpairsbetweenatomstocompleteanatomsoutershell.Bysharing

thepairsofvalenceelectronsandfillingtheoutermostshellofanatomselectroncloudthese
atomsbecomestable.
Acovalentbondformswhenatomsaretryingtotakeotherelectronswhileholdingonto
theirown.Thistypeofbondinghappensbetweentwononmetalsonly.Theatomscansharemore
thanonepairanddonothavetoshareequally.Whenlookingatacovalentbondamolecular
level,thesharedelectronsareinaregionbetweenthetwoatoms,lookingliketwooverlapping
circleswithadarkerareainthesharedarea.Theattractionbetweentheatomsisweak.Covalent
bondswillusuallynothaveacrystallinestructure,willhavealowmeltingpoint,willnotbe
conductive,relativelyeasytobreak,andhaveaneutralcharge.
SodiumChloride(NaCl)hasanionicbondbecauseishasacrystallinestructure,
dissolvesinwater,andsodiumisapositivelychargedmetalandchlorineisanegativelycharged
nonmetal.ThecompoundHydrogenChloride(HCl)isapolarcovalentbondbecausetheatoms
areconcentratedinaregionbetweenbothatoms,theyarebothnonmetalswhoshareelectrons,
andHydrogengainsoneelectronandChloridereceivesanunequalshareoftheelectrons.
Ceramics,minerals,andtablesaltareallmaterialswithionicbondingbecausetheyareall
crystallineinstructure,andtheyaredifficulttobreak,andareveryconductive.Materialsthat
haveacovalentbondincludepolymers,sugar,andwaterbecausetheyareeasytobreakwith
theirweakattractionandarenotconductive.

PropertiesofIonicandCovalentBondsResults
Unknown
Substances

Conductivit
y

Low

High

VeryHigh Low

VeryHigh High

Melting
Point

45
C

34.1C

+300C

67C

+300C

102C

Solubility

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Crystalline
Structure

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

Observation
s

Melted
fast

Melted
fast

Never
melted

Never
melted

Couldor
couldnot
be
crystalline

Notes:
ConductivityTest
Tray=2.9g
EachUnknownSubstance=2g
Total=5g

MeltingPointTest
120mlofdistilledwaterineachbeaker
1gofeachunknownsubstanceforeachbeaker

ClassificationofUnknownSubstances
UnknownsubstanceAisacovalentbondbecauseofthepropertiesshownthroughtests.
Whenplacedinwaterthesubstancedidnotdissolveandwasnotconductivewhenusinga

conductivityprobe.Whenheatedusingabunsenburnerthesubstancemeltedquicklyatalow
temperaturemeasuredwithathermocouple..Whenobservedunderadissectingthesubstance
wasnotcrystallineinstructure.Theseresultsareconclusivewiththeidentifyingpropertiesofa
covalentbond.
UnknownSubstanceBisanionicbecauseofthecertainpropertiesthatassociatewith
ionicbonding.Thissubstancewassolubleinwaterandhadhighconductivityoncedissolvedin
water.Underadissectingscopethissubstancehadacrystalstructure.Themeltingpointforthe
substancewaslowerthanexpectedforaionicbond.Althoughthemeltingpointwaslow,other
propertiesshowninthissubstancewereparalleltoanionicbond.
UnknownSubstanceCisanionicbondbecauseofthechemicalandphysicalproperties
showninavarietyofidentifyingtests.Whenplacedinwaterthesubstancedissolvedandwas
veryconductivewhenusingaconductivityprobeinthewater.Thesubstancedidnotmeltatany
temperaturebelow300degreescelsiusmeasuredwithathermocouple.Whenobservedundera
dissectingscopethestructureofthesubstancewasnotcrystalinshape.Allofthesetests
concludedthattheresultsareconsistentwiththepropertiesofthepropertiesofaionicbond.
UnknownSubstanceDisacovalentbondbecausethepropertiesofacovalentbondare
consistentwiththepropertiesofsubstanceD.Whenputinwaterthesubstancedissolvedand
whentestedwithaconductivityprobethewatermixtureresultedwithlowconductivity.Usinga
thermocouplethemeltingpointwaslowat67degreescelsius.Thissubstancealsohadacrystal
likestructurewhichwasobservedusingadissectingscope.Thesepropertieslowmeltingpoint,
andlowornoneconductivityareofacovalentbond.

UnknownSubstanceEisanionicbondbecauseofthepropertiesdisplayedinavarietyof
identifyingtests.Thesubstancealsodidnotmeltatanytemperaturebelow300degreescelsius
whenmeasuredwithathermocouple.WhensubstanceEwasplacedinwaterthesubstance
dissolved.Oncetheconductivityprobewasplacedinthewaterwiththesubstance,itwasvery
conductive.Whenobservedunderadissectingscopethestructureofthesubstancewas
crystallineinstructure.
UnknownSubstanceFisacovalentbondbecauseoftheidentifiedpropertiesshownfrom
teststhatarecongruentwiththepropertiesofacovalentbond.Whenobservedunderadissecting
scopethesubstancedidnotappearcrystalline.Thesubstancehadameltingpointof102degrees
celsiusmeasuredbyathermocouple,whichwasnothighorlow.Whenputintowaterthe
substancewassolubleandhadahighconductivitybasedontheconductivityprobe.These
propertiesofsubstanceFareconclusivewiththepropertiesofacovalentbond.

Reflection
IdidnotchangeanyofmyclassificationsoftheunknownsnordidIcompelanyofmy
peerstochangetheirclassifications.Iwasconfidentthatmydecisionswereaccurateandmy
peersresultsweresimilar.Ifeltthatalloftheclassificationswerethoughtthroughandthat
basedontheresultsthattheywerecorrect.WhenmakingmydecisionsontheclassificationsI
diddiscussoneoftheunknownsbondingwithapeer.Iwasunsureonsomeoftheresults,soI
comparedthemwithmyclassmateandIdecidedonaclassification.Ibelievebasedonthetests
thatIdidandtheteststhatmypeersperformed,conductivityandmeltingpointwerethemost

valuabletestsformakingadistinctionbetweenionicallyandcovalentlybondedsubstances.For
eachbond,conductivityandmeltingpointarethemostdistinctiveproperties,whichallowedfor
astrongidentificationoftheunknownsubstances.Forexample,ionicbondsareconductive
whereascovalentbondsarenonconductiveandunknownsubstanceCwasveryconductive
whichhelpedindeterminingthatitwasanionicbond.Solubilityandcrystallinestructurewere
theleastvaluableorhelpfulfortestformakingadistinctionbetweenionicallyandcovalently
bondedsubstances.Thesepropertiescanvaryforthetypesofbonds,noteverysubstanceis
solubleorhasacrystallinestructure.Forexample,covalentlybondedsubstancesvaryin
solubility,thereforemakingitnotmostvaluabletestforadistinction.
Theonlinescientificpeerreviewwasimportantforusasstudentstoexploreand
understandwhatweweredoinginthelab.Itallowedustoengageandbrainstormaboutscience
andideaswehave.Scientistintherealworldsomethingsimilartothis,theytalktoother
scientist,theyquestionandreevaluatetheirwork.Wemostlikelydidnotdoasmuchworkasthe
scientistdo,theyprobablygointomoredepthintothescienceandwork.Thisdiscussionallowed
metoseewhatmypeersdidandthought.Ilearnedfromthemandtheylearnedfromme,whichI
thinkisveryimportantinthescientificprocess.
Ithinkthatifwespendmoretimedoingthisdiscussionwewouldbeabletoexplorea
littlemoreandchangethings,wecouldmoreindepthonexperimentsandideas.Wemighteven
beabletofindsourcesandevidencetolearnfromwhichwouldgiveusaccesstoreviewmore
contentandhaveabetterunderstanding.Althoughitwasdifficulttodiscussinacasual
conversationaboutourtestsandthislab,havingthediscussiononlineallowedforfast
commentingandeasyaccesstodata.