Sodium chloride NaCl exhibits ionic bonding. Ionic bonding is a type of chemical bonding that involves the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions. It occurs when a metal atom transfers one or more electrons to a non-metal atom, resulting in the formation of positive and negative ions.In the case of sodium chloride, sodium Na is a metal from Group 1 of the periodic table, and it has one electron in its outermost shell. Chlorine Cl is a non-metal from Group 17 also known as the halogens and has seven electrons in its outermost shell. According to the octet rule, atoms tend to gain, lose, or share electrons to achieve a stable electron configuration with eight electrons in their outermost shell.Sodium can achieve a stable electron configuration by losing its single outer electron, which results in a positively charged sodium ion Na+ . Chlorine can achieve a stable electron configuration by gaining one electron, which results in a negatively charged chloride ion Cl- . The transfer of an electron from sodium to chlorine creates an electrostatic attraction between the Na+ and Cl- ions, forming an ionic bond.In the solid state, sodium chloride forms a crystalline lattice structure, where each sodium ion is surrounded by six chloride ions, and each chloride ion is surrounded by six sodium ions. This arrangement is due to the electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions, which maximizes the attractive forces and minimizes the repulsive forces between ions. The lattice structure contributes to the high melting and boiling points of sodium chloride, as well as its solubility in polar solvents like water.In summary, sodium chloride exhibits ionic bonding due to the transfer of an electron from the metal atom sodium to the non-metal atom chlorine , resulting in the formation of oppositely charged ions that are held together by electrostatic attraction in a crystalline lattice structure.