The bonds in salt compounds are called ionic because they both have an electrical charge—the chloride ion is negatively charged and the sodium ion is positively charged. … Water molecules pull the sodium and chloride ions apart, breaking the ionic bond that held them together.

Is salt a covalent or ionic bond?

Salt is made up of sodium and chloride and is ionically bonded. Sugar, on the other hand, is composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen and has covalent bonds. A salt molecule is made up of one sodium atom and one chlorine atom. … This type of bond is called an ionic bond.

What makes an ionic bond?

Such a bond forms when the valence (outermost) electrons of one atom are transferred permanently to another atom. … The atom that loses the electrons becomes a positively charged ion (cation), while the one that gains them becomes a negatively charged ion (anion).