Electron clouds during ionic bonding

[Sinthia haque]

i want an explanation on how electron clouds interact or behave during the formation of an ionic bond.
we know that complete transfer of electron/s forms an ionic bond but does the resulting charge differences naturally cause an attraction or is there a valid explanation behind this attraction that i have missed out during my learning. the atoms combine as a result of this ionic bond- how do we visualize the atoms and the position of the electron clouds during this state of bonding.
the purpose of this question is to gain a simple explanation based on advanced ideas that will let me imagine the entire process very logically. i am going through books and articles, yet i need an answer to this question because i know there are better people out here who can make the concept very logical and satisfying that would aid my understanding of the high school physics.

 

[UltrafastPED]

It's already simple: ionic bonds are electrostatic. For NaCl the Na donates an electron, leaving the Na+ ion, and the Cl accepts an electron, becoming the Cl- ion.

This is quite different from, and much simpler than covalent bonding.

See http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/chemical/bond.html