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2.1.3Ionic compounds

AQA GCSE Chemistry (8462), Higher tier · Bonding, structure and the properties of matter › Chemical bonds: ionic, covalent and metallic

Practise Ionic compounds. 12 exam-style questions on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.

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This question is about ionic compounds. In which directions do these forces act?
in all directions

Sample questions

Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.

Question 1Easy4 marks
This question is about ionic compounds.
(a) Which of these substances is an ionic compound?
Tick (✓) one box.[1]
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Copper
  • Magnesium oxide
  • Methane
(b) What holds the particles together in an ionic compound?
Tick (✓) one box.[1]
  • Weak forces between molecules
  • Shared pairs of electrons
  • Strong electrostatic forces between oppositely charged ions
  • Delocalised electrons
(c) In which directions do these forces act?[1]
(d) What name is given to the regular arrangement of ions in an ionic compound?[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a) Answer: Magnesium oxide
(b) Answer: Strong electrostatic forces between oppositely charged ions
(c) Answer: in all directions
  • in all directions
(d) Answer: a (giant ionic) lattice
  • (giant ionic) lattice
Question 2Medium5 marks
{table} shows the formulae of some ions.
[object Object]
(a) Give the formula of magnesium chloride.[1]
(b) Give the formula of aluminium oxide.[1]
(c) Give the formula of sodium sulfate.[1]
(d) Give the formula of calcium hydroxide.[1]
(e) Give the formula of iron(III) nitrate.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a) Answer: MgCl2
  • MgCl2
(b) Answer: Al2O3
  • Al2O3
(c) Answer: Na2SO4
  • Na2SO4
(d) Answer: Ca(OH)2
  • Ca(OH)2
(e) Answer: Fe(NO3)3
  • Fe(NO3)3
Question 3Hard6 marks
The structure of sodium chloride can be represented by a dot and cross diagram, a ball and stick model or a space-filling model.
(a) Give two limitations of the ball and stick model of sodium chloride.[2]
(b) Give one advantage of a space-filling model compared with a ball and stick model.[1]
(c) Explain why a dot and cross diagram is not useful for showing the structure of sodium chloride.[1]
(d) In sodium chloride, each Na+ ion is surrounded by six Cl− ions.
Explain why the formula of sodium chloride is NaCl and not NaCl6.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a) Answer: The sticks suggest bonds between particular pairs of ions (forces act in all directions); the ions are shown far apart.
  • the sticks suggest bonds between particular pairs of ions / the forces actually act in all directions
  • the ions are shown too far apart / there are no large gaps between ions in reality
  • the relative sizes of the ions are not shown correctly
  • it only shows a small part of the giant lattice
(b) Answer: It shows the relative sizes of the ions and how closely they are packed.
  • shows the relative sizes of the ions / shows the ions touching / closely packed
(c) Answer: It only shows electron transfer between one pair of ions, not the arrangement of ions in the lattice.
  • it only shows the transfer of electrons / one pair of ions, not the arrangement of ions in the (3D) lattice
(d) Answer: Each Cl− ion is also surrounded by six Na+ ions, so each ion is shared and the overall ratio is 1 : 1.
  • each Cl− ion is also surrounded by / shared between six Na+ ions
  • so the overall ratio of Na+ to Cl− ions is 1 : 1

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