Question

What are the main differences between ionic and covalent?

Answer 1

All I know is

ionic=
between metal and non metal
charge must be 0
naming begins with the cation and ends with the anion (anion ends with ide)

covalent=
between 2 non metals
charge must also be 0.
naming completely based on amount per element

anything else I should know?

Answer 2

sharing of electrons vs. positive and negative charge attractions

Answer 3

@Zale101

Answer 4

also is it safe to say that ionic compounds use the selected oxidation states while covalent can vary?

Answer 5

Ionic bonding is when valence electrons of an atom is \(\color{red}{transfered}\) to another atom.
Covalent bonding is when valence electrons of an atom is \(\color{red}{shared}\) with another atom.

Answer 6

Good points. Is what I said all true, though?

Answer 7

Yes, what you said seems correct to me.

Answer 8

Also, if you don't mind. Can you clarify synthesis for me real quick?

CO2
2CO2

Both are synthesis, right?

But let's say it was C2O, then it's not, right?

So there can't be a number in between the elements? Only before and after?

Answer 9

CO2 means that there's 1 mol of carbon and 2 mols of oxygen
2CO2, usually written in a chemical reaction when balancing, indicates that there's 2 mols of carbon and 4 mols of oxygen.

Answer 10

I am aware of that. That is "direct combination", though?

Answer 11

I'm assuming that you want to know what is a synthesis reaction? Well, a synthesis reaction is when 2 elements play as reactants to form the product as compound.
Ex. 2H2(g) + O2(g) -> 2H2O is a synthesis reaction

Answer 12

Another example
C + O2 -> CO2

Answer 13

And decomposition is just the exact opposite right?

Answer 14

CO2>>C+O2

Answer 15

Hmm, would a better way to remember this is that

Synthesis's product will never have a + sign as it's ONE product

decomposition's product will always have a + sign or multiple ones

Answer 16

I dont think CO2 would decompose

Answer 17

it couldn't go through a decomposition?

Answer 18

A synthesis reaction would be
reactant + reactant --> product
two reactant will form a complex substance. CO2 won't decompose as it is a decomposition product.

A decomposition reaction would be
reactant --> product + product
A a complex substance (reactant) produces two product

I better example would be water, 2H2(g) + O2(g) -> 2H2O in a decomposition reaction, water can break down to hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. 2H2O(g) -> 2H2(g) + O2(g)

Answer 19

CO2 is pretty stable not to decompose

Answer 20

To break it down, it must be another element right? As you broke down oxygen there

Answer 21

When it says synthesis and decomposition reactionare opposite of each other, it means that the process of their chemical reactions is done differently (oppsitely) it doesn't necessarily have to be the same chemical reaction that was synthesized can be decomposed back. Again, water can do that but not every chemical reaction that is synthesized will get decomposed back.

Answer 22

in decomposition, the reactant can be a compound that its product becomes two elements

Answer 23

reactions* not reactionare

Answer 24

makes sense

Answer 25

Any explanation of why my book says

Get the decomposition of ammonia into its elements

And the answer is 2NH3>>>N2+3H2

Why is ammonia 2nh3 instead of just nh3..?

Answer 26

@Kainui

Answer 27

@dan815

Answer 28

@SolomonZelman

Answer 29

"And the answer is 2NH3>>>N2+3H2

Why is ammonia 2nh3 instead of just nh3..?"

because you need to balance the atoms on both sides, notice you have \(N_2\), two N atoms on the right.

Answer 30

But isn't it originally NH3 and would just be N+H3?

Answer 31

@DanJS

Answer 32

N doesnt exist by itself, it exists as \(N_2\) to satisfy the octet rule.

Answer 33

Diatomic molecule..?

Answer 34

otherwise N can have a charge of -3 so i'm not sure why you need 2 of them

Answer 35

\(N^{3-}\) doesnt exist by itself in real life