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Which of the following compounds are held together by ionic bonds? Select all that apply:

A. CaCl2
C. NaCl
D. sodium bromide
F. FeBr3

1 Answer

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Final answer:

All the listed compounds, A. CaCl2, C. NaCl, D. sodium bromide, and F. FeBr3, are held together by ionic bonds because they consist of a metal forming a cation and a nonmetal forming an anion.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is asking which of the listed compounds are held together by ionic bonds. An ionic compound typically consists of a metal cation and a nonmetal anion held together by the electrostatic attraction of their opposite charges. Going through the options provided:

  1. A. CaCl2 (calcium chloride) - This is an ionic compound. Calcium (Ca) is a metal that loses two electrons to form Ca2+, and chlorine (Cl) is a nonmetal that gains one electron to become Cl-. Since there are two chlorine atoms, the charges balance out, resulting in CaCl2.
  2. C. NaCl (sodium chloride) - This is another classic example of an ionic compound. Sodium (Na) is a metal that loses one electron to form Na+, and chlorine (Cl) gains one electron to become Cl- again, giving us NaCl.
  3. D. Sodium bromide - This compound is similar to sodium chloride in that sodium (Na) will lose one electron to form Na+, and bromine (Br) will gain one electron to become Br-, forming the ionic compound sodium bromide (NaBr).
  4. F. FeBr3 (iron(III) bromide) - This is an ionic compound where iron (Fe) can lose three electrons to form Fe3+ and bromine (Br) gains one electron to become Br-. Three bromide ions are needed to balance the charge of one Fe3+, resulting in FeBr3.

Thus, all the listed compounds (A. CaCl2, C. NaCl, D. sodium bromide, F. FeBr3) are held together by ionic bonds.

User Mohamed Saber
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