Question

Give reasons for the following:

Covalent bonds are directional bonds while ionic bonds are nondirectional.

Answer 1

Due to the electrostatic forces between the two opposite charges, ionic bonds are non-directional. The bonding direction does not matter as the electrostatic field of an ion is non-directional. Whereas, the formation of covalent bonds happens with the overlap of the atomic orbitals. The direction of the bonds is given by the direction of overlapping.