Final answer:
Compounds occur in several types based on their bonding: ionic compounds form between metals and nonmetals, covalent compounds between nonmetals, and within covalent compounds, they can be polar or nonpolar based on the equality of electron sharing.
Step-by-step explanation:
To identify the types of compounds formed in a reaction, it is essential to understand the nature of the elements involved and the type of bonding they undergo.
Ionic compounds are typically formed between metals and nonmetals where electrons are transferred from the metal to the nonmetal, creating charged ions that attract each other. For instance, sodium chloride (NaCl) is an ionic compound composed of sodium ions (Na+) and chloride ions (Cl-).
Covalent compounds, on the other hand, involve the sharing of electron pairs between nonmetals. These can be polar compounds if the sharing is unequal, leading to partial charges on the atoms, or nonpolar compounds if the electron sharing is equal, resulting in no significant charge differences across the molecule.
An example of a polar covalent compound would be water (H2O), where the oxygen atom has a slight negative charge and the hydrogen atoms have a slight positive charge.
Utilizing Lewis diagrams can help in visualizing the bonding in molecules, with ionic bonds represented by the transfer of electron dots between atoms and covalent bonds illustrated by shared pairs of electron dots. Polyatomic ions are groups of atoms that are covalently bonded but carry a net charge after the loss or gain of electrons, often participating in ionic bonding with other ions.
By assessing the position of a compound's elements on the periodic table, we can make an initial guess as to whether the compound is likely to be ionic or covalent, although this is a simplified heuristic that might not always hold true due to exceptions and the presence of resonance structures in more complex molecules.