Does BiF3 have a ionic or covalent bond?

Answer 1

An ionic bond takes place when one atom gives up an electron to another atom in order to have a stable valence. Whereas covalent bonds share electrons to sustain a stable valence. The Bohr diagram for Bismuth would be: Bi)2e-)8e-)18e-)32e-)18e-)5e- & Fluorine would be: F)2e-)7e-

The valence for Bismuth has 5 electrons and Fluorine has 7 electrons, hence Bismuth requires 3 more electrons and Fluorine needs 1 more electron to become an octet.

Therefore, to balance BiF3:

for one Bismuth atom you will need 3 Fluorine atoms attached, both atoms will share the electrons to satisfy a complete octet in the valence for both atoms.

Answer 2

BiF3 has ionic bonds. In this compound, bismuth (Bi) is a metal and fluorine (F) is a nonmetal. The large electronegativity difference between the two elements results in the transfer of electrons from bismuth to fluorine, creating ionic bonds.