we have previously learned about the formation of ions now we will learn about ionic bonds ions as you already know are formed from the loss or gain of electrons electrons however do not suddenly appear or disappear they are in fact transferred from one atom to another let's look at sodium chloride as an example sodium loses one electron to form a sodium ion the electron is not lost but transferred to chlorine to form a chloride ion so we have a sodium ion and a chloride ion they are oppositely charged ions and will be electrostatically attracted to one another much like how opposite poles of a magnet are attracted to one another this electrostatic attraction is an ionic bond sodium chloride is an ionic compound because it is held intact by ionic bonds the same thing happens with magnesium and oxygen why don't you grab a piece of paper and a pencil and draw the resulting ionic compound magnesium oxide please pause the lesson and resume when you are done magnesium transfers its two valence electrons to oxygen forming the magnesium ion and an oxide ion the resulting ions are electrostatically attracted to one another forming an ionic bond did you get this right did you remember to include the charges on the ion now let's look at calcium and chlorine calcium loses two electrons to form a calcium ion one of these electrons is transferred to a chlorine atom and another is transferred to another chlorine atom forming two chloride ions the calcium ion is electrostatically attracted to the two chloride ions because the opposite charges must fully balance each other out in all three examples the resulting ionic compounds have an overall neutral charge because all charges are fully balanced out in summary an ionic bond is defined as the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions when an ionic compound is formed the charges must be balanced so that the resulting ionic compound has an overall neutral charge you