Harry Potter: The Name is Bond…Ionic Bond
Harry had finally learned his lesson about science class – he didn't understand anything they were doing in class, and ended up burning himself half of the time, so he did something he would have never done in any other class – he picked up his science textbook and started reading. And to his great surprise, he actually understood what the book was talking about. This book explained the subject much better than Mr. Johnson did – he actually understood what all the fancy science terms meant now. He felt like he could explain it just as well as Hermione – well, maybe not that well, but he felt smarter now.
So the following evening, when Ron was going through his homework complaint rant, Harry actually helped explain things to him.
"What the heck is the difference between ionic and covalent bonds?" Ron complained.
"Well, covalent bonds share electrons to get a full outer shell, and in an ionic bond one atom steals a valence electron from another atom, and then they combine," Hermione explained.
"Um…I still don't understand," Ron said.
"Alright, let's put it this way," Harry said. "Um…okay, so valence electrons are ingredients for a potion. The atoms will be represented by students. So, in a covalent bond, there are two students that have some ingredients for a potion, but not all of them. So they find each other and they share their ingredients for each other's potions, but they still have their own potions. In an ionic bond, one student steals the other student's ingredients to complete their own potion. The other student is then so desperate to complete the potion that they complete the potion together. D'you understand?"
It was awhile before Ron responded. "So…the atoms are making potions?"
Hermione hung her head. "Ugh. Moving on. There's an easy way to remember the properties of the bonds – there's a little song I remember. It goes: High ionic, a metal and a nonmetal; low covalent, two nonmetals."
Both the boys looked at her in confusion. "What was the point of that?"
"Ionic properties are normally high: high conductivity, solubility, melting points, and they tend to be brittle. Covalent properties are normally low: low conductivity, solubility, and melting points."
"That's a catchy tune," Ron said. He started humming the tune to himself. Hermione smiled and looked pleased. They were getting somewhere.
"Hey, wait, I just realized something," Ron said, perking up. Harry did, too. He wanted to hear Ron's great realization. "Ionic bond sounds just like James Bond, did you realize? I found that funny. The funnier thing? He's a muggle thing! Ha!"
Harry and Hermione shook their heads. No matter how much they taught him, he'd still be Ron Weasley.