And since chlorine gains an electron it becomes negatively charged. In this way both atoms now become ions . When the chlorine atom gets close enough to the sodium atom, it strips away the sodium's electron and the two ions formed attract each other because of their opposite charges. Many other atoms react to form ionic bonds. In general, reactions between metals and nonmetals tend to be ionic in nature.
Many nonmetals do bond together.
Hydrogen atoms, for example, often react with other hydrogen atoms. In fact, the 2 atoms share each others' electrons in what is called a covalent bond . 2 hydrogen atoms equally share electrons to form a covalent bond. Every pair of shared electrons forms one covalent bond. In the hydrogen example above, one bond is formed between the two atoms.