what makes elements form ionic compounds?
Ionic compounds are compounds made up of ions. These ions are atoms that gain or lose electrons, giving them a net positive or negative charge. Metals tend to lose electrons, so they become cations and have a net positive charge. Nonmetals tend to gain electrons, forming anions that have a net negative charge.
The purple spheres represent sodium cations, Na+, and the green spheres represent chloride anions, Clâ. In chemistry, an ionic compound is a chemical compound comprising ions held together by electrostatic forces termed ionic bonding. The compound is neutral overall, but consists of positively charged ions called cations and negatively charged ions called anions. These can be simple ions such as the sodium (Na+) and chloride (Clâ) in sodium chloride, or polyatomic species such as the ammonium (NH+.