How can you tell if an ionic bond is in a compound?

Answer 1

An ionic bond is the bonding between two elements of different charges and occurs via electron transfer. Generally (remember there are some rare exceptions) this bond occurs between metals and nonmetals. Here is the link to a diagram on Wikipedia which identifies which elements are metal, nonmetal, or metalloids: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table_(metals_and_non-metals)

Some common examples compounds with ionic bonds are: Sodium chloride (NaCl), potassium iodide (KI), calcium sulfide (CaS), cesium bromide (CsBr), and magnesium oxide (MgO). Note that all of these are compounds with a metal and a nonmetal.