How do you determine whether two elements will form an ionic, covalent, or metallic bond?

Answer 1

Two elements will form an ionic compound when a metal and a nonmetal will bond. One element will lose its electron and the other will gain its electron. A metal is a cation and a nonmetal is an anion. You can also have polyatomic species like ammonia be part of the ionic compound.

Two or more elements will form a covalent compound when they are nonmetals. The elements will form a molecule and maintain a stable electronic configuration when they are sharing electrons.

Two or more elements will form a metallic compound when they are metals. The elements share electrons freely to create positive ions.