Question

What happens when a lithium ion is attracted to a fluoride ion?

Answer 1

You create lithium fluoride...

Explanation:

When a lithium ion, which is a cation, gets attracted to a fluoride ion, an anion, both combine to make lithium fluoride `(LiF)`, an ionic compound.

This is an example of ionic bonding, where a cation (positive ion), usually a metal, bonds with an anion (negative ion), usually a non-metal. The difference between the electronegativities of the two atoms in an ionic compound is huge, so instead of electrons being shared in a covalent bond, the anion simply takes the electrons for itself.