The structure extends (repeats itself) in all directions
giving a crystal with a regular arrangement of ions called a lattice.
The crystal is said to be highly ordered.
What is the Structure of an Ionic Compound?
Below is a small piece of a giant ionic structure.
It is also called a giant ionic
lattice.
The word "giant" means that a
huge number of particles are present
(compare this with the word simple).
A giant ionic structure
is made from a huge number
of ions.
The red balls are positive
ions and the blue balls are negative
ions.
The electrostatic
attraction between the oppositely
charged
ions
is called an ionic bond (compare this with a covalent
bond).
The structure
extends (repeats
itself) in all directions
giving a crystal with a regular arrangement of ions called a lattice.
The crystal is said to be highly ordered.
For sodium chloride
the red balls may represent
Na+ ions
and the blue balls may represent
Cl- ions.
All ionic
solids have a similar
structure
to that
shown above but they may not be
identical.
Differences of packing and the relative
size and amounts of
ions
will give different crystal variations.
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