What are the similarities between Covalent and Ionic compounds?
Perhaps you are really asking more about the bonding. in ionic and covalent compounds. There is really not much difference between ionic and covalent bonds. They are simply words that describe regions along a continuum. All bonds are essentially covalent because they involve the sharing of electrons in the orbitals that overlap. If the sharing of electrons between two atoms is exactly the same (equal electronegativities, EN) then the bond is 100% covalent. But with a difference in the two electronegativities the bond becomes polar. The greater the EN difference, the more polar the bond is. As the polarity increases it reaches a point along the line where we call the bond ionic because it appears that the electrons in the bond are essentially transferred to one atom. But even the most ionic bond still has some covalent character. So the bottom line is that all bonds, whether ionic or covalent, involve sharing electrons.
