Ionic compound
- CBSE · NCERT Class 10, Ch 3 Metals and Non-metals
An ionic compound is made when a metal gives electrons to a non-metal, forming positive and negative ions that hold each other tightly.
Metals tend to lose electrons and non-metals tend to gain them. When they meet, the metal becomes a positive ion and the non-metal a negative ion. Opposite charges attract, and that pull is the bond. NCERT also calls these electrovalent compounds.
- They are hard solids with high melting and boiling points.
- Most dissolve in water but not in kerosene or petrol.
- They conduct electricity when melted or dissolved in water, but not as solids.
A small example
Sodium has 11 electrons, arranged 2, 8, 1. It gives away its 1 outer electron and becomes Na⁺, arranged 2, 8. Chlorine has 17 electrons, arranged 2, 8, 7. It takes that electron and becomes Cl⁻, arranged 2, 8, 8. Both ions now have full outer shells. Together they make sodium chloride, NaCl.
Where marks go
Question 27 of CBSE's 2026-27 Science sample paper asks why a sports drink conducts electricity but coconut oil does not. The 2026-27 Science marking scheme gives 1 mark for one idea: the drink has ions and the oil has none.
The marked answer covers both liquids, not just one. Conduction needs charged particles that can move, and the scheme's answer names them: ions. See how step marking works.
Sources
Facts last checked against these sources on 30 September 2026.
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