Covalent vs. Ionic

One of the more difficult things for me to remember was the difference between ionic and covalent compounds. To remember the differences between covalent and ionic compounds I figured out that ionic and covalent compounds contained different types of elements.


Covalent:
-nonmetal and nonmetal
Ionic:
-metal and nonmetal

For example, in an ionic compound, it would contain a metal (as an example, sodium) and a nonmetal (chlorine) to create Sodium chloride or NaCl. Covalent compounds are between a nonmetal (as another example, carbon) and another nonmetal (oxygen) to create carbonate or CO3.