Properties of Ionic Solids
- A solid consists of structural units that are attracted to one another strongly enough to give a rigid substance
- These structural units can be atoms, molecules, or ions
- The physical properties and structure of solids are dictated by the type of bonds / forces that hold the particles of solids together
- Based on these bonds / forces, we can classify solids into:
- Molecular solids
- Metallic solids
- Ionic solids
- Covalent network solids
Structure of Ionic Solids
- An ionic solid is made up of cations (positive ions) and anions (negative ions) held together by an electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions
- This electrostatic attraction is commonly called an ionic bond
- The ions in an ionic solid are arranged in a regular pattern of alternating positive and negative ions to give a solid crystal lattice
Ionic Solid Crystal Lattice
A diagram showing the regular arrangement of alternating positive and negative ions that make up an ionic solid
- The strength of an ionic bond increases as the magnitude of the charges increase and as the ions get smaller
Properties of Ionic Solids
- Ionic solids generally have high melting points and high boiling points
- This is a result of the strong electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions
- Despite the high melting and boiling points of ionic solids, they are poor conductors of electricity in solid state
- This is because the valence electrons are confined to the negative ions and are not free to move
- However, ionic solids can conduct electricity in solution and molten state due to the presence of mobile ions
- Unlike metallic solids, ionic solids are brittle and break apart when stress is applied to the solid
- The applied stress causes the regular cation-anion arrangement to change into cation-cation and anion-anion arrangement
- This causes repulsion between the similar charged ions and the breakdown of the crystal lattice
Brittleness of Ionic Solids
The image shows the effect of applying a shear stress to an ionic solid. The crystal separates along a plane of atoms and leads to repulsive interaction between ions with like charges
- Examples of ionic solids are:
- Cesium chloride
- Sodium chloride (Common salt)
- Zinc sulfide (also known as zinc blende)