Final answer:
Among the given compounds, CaCl2 is most likely to be an ionic compound as it consists of a metal (calcium) and a nonmetal (chlorine), which typically form ionic bonds.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asking which compound among the given options is most likely to be an ionic compound. To determine if a compound is ionic, we generally look for a combination of a metal and a nonmetal, as metals tend to lose electrons to form cations while nonmetals tend to gain electrons to form anions.
Using this principle:
- CaCl2: Calcium (Ca) is a metal, and chlorine (Cl) is a nonmetal. Thus, CaCl2 is likely to be an ionic compound because it consists of a cation (Ca2+) and an anion (Cl-).
On the contrary, compounds that consist of nonmetals only, such as CO2, CS2, SO2, and OF2, are more likely to be covalent.