The force that holds two ions together in an ionic bond is an  electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions.In ionic  bonding, there is a large electronegativit … y difference between the  metal cation and nonmetal anion bonding. Answered. In Elements and Compounds.ovalent bonding is a shared electron pairing of electrons from a non-metal and a metal. For the sake of your chemistry professor's sani … ty please memorize the metals and nonmetals on the periodic table. In fact just memeorize the periodic table.