What is the primary type of interaction found in ionic compounds?

Ionic compounds are primarily characterized by electrostatic attraction, which is the force that holds the positively charged cations and negatively charged anions together. This type of interaction arises due to the transfer of electrons from one atom to another, resulting in the formation of charged ions. The strong attraction between these opposite charges creates a stable ionic lattice structure, which is a hallmark of ionic compounds.

Electrostatic attraction is fundamentally strong because the interactions depend on the magnitudes of the charges of the ions and the distance between them, following Coulomb's law. The resulting structure typically leads to high melting and boiling points, as a significant amount of energy is required to overcome these strong interactions.

In contrast, covalent bonding involves sharing of electrons between atoms, which is not the case in ionic compounds. Hydrogen bonding and Van der Waals forces represent weaker interactions that also do not apply to the bulk properties of ionic compounds. Thus, the predominant and defining characteristic of ionic compounds is indeed the electrostatic attraction between the assembled cations and anions.