Does potassium nitrate (KNO₃) incorporate ionic bonding, covalent bonding, or both? Explain.

The ionic compounds are chemical compounds that are formed from the combination of metals as cations and the nonmetals/polyatomic as anions. The type of bonding that exists between anions and cations is known as ionic bonding. A cation is produced from the respective metal by losing its one or more electrons while an anion is formed from the corresponding nonmetal by gaining one or more electrons. Usually, ionic bonds are very strong due to the strong electrostatic interactions between oppositely charged ions.

In potassium nitrate, potassium is an alkali metal that forms a monoatomic cation and nitrate is a polyatomic anion that comes from nitric acid. The physical interaction between potassium cation and nitrate anion results in the formation of ionic bonding. Hence, potassium nitrate is an ionic compound that has an ionic bond between two ions.

Covalent bonds are a major type of chemical bonding that is formed from two nonmetals. In covalent bonds, two non-metals share their electronsbut do not completely transfer their electrons. In general, the covalent bonds are stronger.

Nitrate is a molecule having a single negative charge that contains two different nonmetals: nitrogen and oxygen. Within the molecule, nitrogen and oxygen form covalent bonds. Hence, nitrate in potassium nitrate incorporates covalent bonding.