Introduction to Chemical Bonding
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Noble gases are the only elements that can be found in nature, unbonded.

point charges
Coulomb's Law:
coulomb's law
R is the radius in microm or in Å
q1 and q2 are charges.
Na [He] 2s2 2p6 3s1
1 electron
Cl [He] 2s2 2p6 3s2 3px 3py 3pz
2 electrons 2 electrons 2 electrons 1 electron
The electron in the outer shell of the sodium atom is transferred to the chlorine atom and the result is:
Na+ [He] 2s2 2p6 3s1
empty orbital
Cl- [He] 2s2 2p6 3s2 3px 3py 3pz
2 electrons 2 electrons 2 electrons 2 electrons
The two ions, now oppositely charged, are attracted to each other and form an ionic bond.

Bonds: In general
Ionic bond
increasing charge differenceincreasing charge difference
Polar Covalent
increasing charge differenceincreasing charge difference
Covalent

Note 1:
Cation is smaller than the corresponding metal atom because the excess of protons in the ion draws the outer electrons in closer to the nucleus. In the example above, Na+ is smaller than Na.
Anion is larger than corresponding neutral (chargeless) atom. The extra electron in the anion adds to the repulsion between outer electrons. Also, the added negative charge dilutes the nuclear charge onto more electrons, weakening its effect. In the example above Cl- is larger than Cl.

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