can someone paraphrase this for me? an ionic bond is the attraction of a positively charged ion to a negatively charged ion a covalent bond forms when two atoms overlap their outer energy levels in order to share pairs of valence electrons. the shared electrons are attracted to the nuclei of both atoms. atoms that are covalently bonded together form a covalent compound, which can also be called a molecule. water is an example of a molecule formed by covalent bonds. a water molecule is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, giving it the chemical formula h2o. atoms can gain or lose electrons to become charged ions. positive ions and negative ions are attracted to each other because of their opposite charges. because of this opposite attraction, ionic bonds are very strong. atoms that are ionically bonded together form an ionic compound. table salt, also known as sodium chloride (nacl), is an example of an ionic compound. the attraction between the positive sodium ion (na ) and the negative chloride ion (cl-) is an ionic bond.