The chloride ion is formed when the
element chlorine picks up one electron to form an anion (negatively-charged
ion) Cl-. The salts of hydrochloric acid HCl contain chloride ions and can
also be called chlorides. An example is table salt, which is sodium chloride
with the chemical formula NaCl. In water, it dissolves into Na+ and Cl-
ions.
The word chloride can also refer to a chemical compound in which one or
more chlorine atoms are covalently bonded in the molecule. This means that
chlorides can be either inorganic or organic compounds. The simplest example
of an inorganic covalently-bonded chloride is hydrogen chloride, HCl.
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