Editing Ionic bonding (section)

==Comparison with covalent bonding==
In ionic bonding, the atoms are bound by the attraction of oppositely charged ions, whereas, in [[covalent bond]]ing, atoms are bound by sharing electrons to attain stable electron configurations. In covalent bonding, the [[molecular geometry]] around each atom is determined by valence shell electron pair repulsion [[VSEPR]] rules, whereas, in ionic materials, the geometry follows maximum [[close-packing|packing]] rules. One could say that covalent bonding is more ''directional'' in the sense that the energy penalty for not adhering to the optimum bond angles is large, whereas ionic bonding has no such penalty. There are no shared electron pairs to repel each other, the ions should simply be packed as efficiently as possible. This often leads to much higher [[coordination number]]s. In NaCl, each ion has 6 bonds and all bond angles are 90°. In CsCl the coordination number is 8. By comparison, carbon typically has a maximum of four bonds.

Purely ionic bonding cannot exist, as the proximity of the entities involved in the bonding allows some degree of sharing [[electron density]] between them. Therefore, all ionic bonding has some covalent character. Thus, bonding is considered ionic where the ionic character is greater than the covalent character. The larger the difference in [[electronegativity]] between the two types of atoms involved in the bonding, the more ionic (polar) it is. Bonds with partially ionic and partially covalent character are called [[polar covalent bond]]s. For example, Na–Cl and Mg–O interactions have a few percent covalency, while Si–O bonds are usually ~50% ionic and ~50% covalent. [[Linus Pauling|Pauling]] estimated that an electronegativity difference of 1.7 (on the [[Electronegativity#Pauling electronegativity|Pauling scale]]) corresponds to 50% ionic character, so that a difference greater than 1.7 corresponds to a bond which is predominantly ionic.<ref>L. Pauling ''The Nature of the Chemical Bond'' (3rd ed., Oxford University Press 1960) p.98-100.</ref>

Ionic character in covalent bonds can be directly measured for atoms having quadrupolar nuclei (<sup>2</sup>H, <sup>14</sup>N, <sup>81,79</sup>Br, <sup>35,37</sup>Cl or <sup>127</sup>I). These nuclei are generally objects of NQR [[nuclear quadrupole resonance]] and NMR [[nuclear magnetic resonance]] studies. Interactions between the nuclear quadrupole moments ''Q'' and the electric field gradients (EFG) are characterized via the nuclear quadrupole coupling constants
:QCC = {{sfrac|''e''<sup>2</sup>''q''<sub>zz</sub>''Q''|''h''}} 
where the ''eq''<sub>zz</sub> term corresponds to the principal component of the EFG tensor and ''e'' is the elementary charge. In turn, the electric field gradient opens the way to description of bonding modes in molecules when the QCC values are accurately determined by NMR or NQR methods.  

In general, when ionic bonding occurs in the solid (or liquid) state, it is not possible to talk about a single "ionic bond" between two individual atoms, because the cohesive forces that keep the lattice together are of a more collective nature. This is quite different in the case of covalent bonding, where we can often speak of a distinct bond localized between two particular atoms. However, even if ionic bonding is combined with some covalency, the result is ''not'' necessarily discrete bonds of a localized character.<ref name=Seifert/> In such cases, the resulting bonding often requires description in terms of a band structure consisting of gigantic molecular orbitals spanning the entire crystal. Thus, the bonding in the solid often retains its collective rather than localized nature. When the difference in electronegativity is decreased, the bonding may then lead to a [[semiconductor]], a [[semimetal]] or eventually a metallic conductor with metallic bonding.