Which of the following elements, when combined with chlorine, would most likely form an ionic compound?
A
Carbon
B
Oxygen
C
Nitrogen
D
Sodium
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Understand the nature of ionic compounds: Ionic compounds typically form between metals and nonmetals, where one atom donates electrons (forming a cation) and the other accepts electrons (forming an anion).
Identify the elements given: Carbon, Oxygen, and Nitrogen are all nonmetals, while Sodium is a metal.
Recall that metals tend to lose electrons to form positive ions (cations), and nonmetals tend to gain electrons to form negative ions (anions).
Since chlorine is a nonmetal and tends to gain one electron to form Cl⁻, it will form ionic bonds with metals that can lose electrons easily, such as Sodium (Na), which forms Na⁺.
Therefore, Sodium combined with chlorine is most likely to form an ionic compound because it involves electron transfer between a metal (Na) and a nonmetal (Cl), unlike the other nonmetal elements listed.