opposite
Sodium and chloride ions have equal but opposite charges. Opposite electric charges attract each other, so sodium and chloride ions cling together in a strong ionic bond. You can see this in row 2 of the Figure above . Brackets separate the ions in the diagram to show that the ions in the compound do not actually share electrons. When ionic bonds hold ions together, they form an ionic compound. The compound formed from sodium and chloride ions is named sodium chloride. It is commonly called table salt. You can see an animation of sodium chloride forming at this URL: http://www. visionlearning. com/library/module_viewer. php?mid=55.