How are ionic compounds different from molecular compounds on an atomic level? ?
Ionic compounds are composed of charged ions that are held together by electrostatic forces. A typical type of ionic compound, called a binary compound because it is made up of two elements, will be composed of metallic positive ions (cations) and nonmetal negative ions (anions). Another type of ionic compound, called a ternary compound as it contain three elements, is composed of monatomic ions and polyatomic ions. When dealing with ionic formulas it is very important to remember that the formula does not show how the compound actually exists in nature. It only shows the ratio by which the individual ions combine. For example, the ionic formula for calcium chloride is CaCl2. Since calcium chloride is an ionic compound, this formula does not mean that there are actually two chlorine atoms floating around attached to one calcium atom. Ionic compounds are actually continuous, lacking the discrete units that make up a sample of a molecular substance. Rather, the formula shows that a sampl
