Differences between Ionic and Covalent Compounds

Objectives:

Recognize ionic and covalent compound based on their physical properties.

Materials:

improvised electrical conductivity apparatus

distilled water

sand(mostly silicon dioxide-SiO2)

salt (sodium chloride-NaCl)

Baking Soda(sodium bicarbonate-NaHCO3)

Cornstarch(C27H48O20)

Cups

GROUP A GROUP B
Sand Table Salt
Cornstarch Baking Soda

Procedure:

1. (Group A)Dissolve Sand into a ¼ cup of distilled water. Do the same thing with the Cornstach.
2. Observe.
3. (Group B)Dissolve table salt into a ¼ cup of distilled water. Do the same thing with the Baking
Soda
4. Observe.
5. Distinguish which is the Ionic and Covalent Compound(Ionic Compounds are highly soluble while
Covalent Compounds are not.)
6. Let the electrodes of the electrical conductivity apparatus touch each of the sample.Make sure
to clean the electrodes before transferring to the other samples.
7. Observe if the light turn on.
8. Try to test it in solid form.
9. Conclude.
Clue:Covalent conpounds are not a good
conductor of electricity,while the Ionic is
the other way around
Covalent are not highly soluble,while
ionic is highly soluble
CONCLUSION

Group A is the Covalent Compounds and Group B is the Ionic Compounds.Ionic ccan conduct
electricity because it is the formation of the atoms but Covalent are not. Commented [GO1]:

Table salt is classified as an ionic bond because according to the chemical formula, one of
the elements, sodium, is a nonmetal and the other, chlorine, is a metal. All bonds between
metals and nonmetals (excluding hydrogen as a metal) are ionic bonds because they give
or take the valence electrons. Also, some results from the experimentation supports this
deduction. For example, the conductivity level for the table salt/distilled water solution was
nine hundred µS/cm, a very high conductivity often found in ionic bonds. The relative
melting point of zero change also supports this inference because it signifies a very high
melting point which is very common in compounds joined through an ionic bond. While the
relative solubility point does not support this conclusion, this is due to errors in the
experiment.

Sand is classified as a covalent bond due to both its chemical formula and the results
from the experiments. All of the elements in sand (silicon and oxygen) are nonmetals, and
all covalent bonds between elements are between nonmetals. Also, the fact that it had a low
conductivity (fourteen µS/cm), low melting point (relative melting point of ten), and a low
solubility point (a relative solubility point of three tenths): these characteristics are those of
covalent bonds.

Cornstarch is classified as a covalent bond as well due to its chemical formula and most
of the results from the experiments. Cornstarch's chemical formula including carbon and
oxygen (nonmetals) and hydrogen (behaves like a nonmetal in bonds) shows that it is a
covalent bond because covalent bonds include only nonmetal elements. The only
experiment result that supports this observation is the low conductivity level
(fourteen µS/cm). The other experiment results do not support this conclusion due to
sources of error. While those two results do not support the data, the evidence from the
chemical formula trumps the experimental evidence.

Baking soda is classified as an ionic bond. This was deduced from both the chemical
formula and the experimental data. In the chemical formula; sodium (a metal) and
hydrogen,carbon, and oxygen (all nonmetals) show an ionic bond because it is a bond
between a metal and nonmetals. Also, the high conductivity level of six hundred µS/cm and
the high melting point (deduced form the relative melting point of zero) lead one to believe
the bond is ionic as well; however, the low solubility level does not agree with the data, it is
just an experimental error.