What is the overall charge of ionic compounds?

Sodium needs to lose 1 Electron to attain stable electronic configuration and chlorine needs to gain 1 electron to stable electronic configuration. In a big picture, the electron was transferred from sodium to chlorine in the same neutral crystal. read more

An ionic compound in chemistry refers to any chemical compound in which ions are held together, or bound, through ionic bonds. Ionic bonds, by definition, are electrostatic attractions between two ions with an opposite charge. In other words, an ionic bond can only form between a cation and an anion. read more

During the formation of an ionic compound, the poitive and negative ions are packed into a regular repeating pattern that balances the forces of attraction between the ions. Large numbers of positive and negative ions existing in a ratio determining by the number of electrons transferred from the metal to the nonmetal. read more