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  • Is Sodium Sulfide Ionic or Covalent

Is Sodium Sulfide Ionic or Covalent

On the bonding of sodium sulfide
In the world, on the bonding of substances, in the genus sodium sulfide, it is often investigated as an ionic bond or a covalent bond. To understand this, we should study the properties of its constituent elements and related chemical principles.

Sodium, a metal element, also has only one electron in the outermost layer of its atom, which is active in nature. It is easy to lose this electron to achieve a stable structure, so it becomes a cation with a positive charge of one unit. Sulfur, a non-metallic element, has six electrons in the outermost layer of its atom, which tends to obtain two electrons and reach an octet stable structure, so it becomes an anion with two units of negative charge.

When sodium and sulfide combine, the sodium atom gives its outer electrons to the sulfur atom, forming an electrostatic attraction between the two, which is the essence of ionic bonds. The formation of ionic bonds originates from the significant difference in electronegativity between metals and non-metallic elements. Sodium has low electronegativity and sulfur has high electronegativity. The difference between the two is large, which causes electron transfer to occur, and then constitutes the ionic compound sodium sulfide.

Looking at the crystal structure of sodium sulfide, sodium ions and sulfur ions are arranged according to certain rules, and they are maintained by ionic bonds. This is also a typical feature of ionic compounds. In the molten state or aqueous solution, sodium sulfide can ionize freely moving sodium ions and sulfur ions, showing good conductivity. This is an important property of ionic compounds, which also proves that it contains ionic bonds.

In summary, sodium sulfide is bound by ionic bonds and belongs to ionic compounds. This conclusion is based on chemical principles, elemental properties and related experimental phenomena, which is beyond doubt.