Chemistry: Ionic Compounds
Ionic Compounds
Sure, I defined what a chemical compound was in Elements, Compounds, and Mixtures, but I never really explained it further than that.
As you might have guessed, chemical compounds are far more numerous and common than pure elements. The coffee you drink is a mixture of many different chemical compounds, as is the hamburger you had for lunch and the peanut brittle you had for a snack last night while watching monster movies at 3 a.m. Okay, that last one was what I ate yesterday morning at 3 a.m., but you get the idea.
Unlike elements, there's no periodic table of the compounds to make them easier to work with. However, with a little more knowledge, you'll find that the regular periodic table of elements gives you just about everything you need to know about chemical compounds. In this section, we'll talk about one of the most common types of compounds—ionic compounds.
Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chemistry © 2003 by Ian Guch. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
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