Ionic_crystal

Ionic crystal

Ionic crystal

Crystalline form of an ionic compound

In chemistry, an ionic crystal is a crystalline form of an ionic compound. They are solids consisting of ions bound together by their electrostatic attraction into a regular lattice. Examples of such crystals are the alkali halides, including potassium fluoride (KF), potassium chloride (KCl), potassium bromide (KBr), potassium iodide (KI), sodium fluoride (NaF).[1] Sodium chloride (NaCl) has a 6:6 co-ordination. The properties of NaCl reflect the strong interactions that exist between the ions. It is a good conductor of electricity when molten, but very poor in the solid state. When fused the mobile ions carry charge through the liquid.[2] They are characterized by strong absorption of infrared radiation and have planes along which they cleave easily. The exact arrangement of ions in an ionic lattice varies according to the size of the ions in the solid.[3]

Sodium chloride (halite) crystal structure. Each atom has six nearest neighbors, with octahedral geometry. This arrangement is known as cubic close packed (ccp).
  Na+
  Cl−

References

  1. [1]
    "Chemicals of the natural environment" (PDF). Retrieved 1 February 2008. [dead link]
  2. [2]
    "Ionic Structures". Retrieved 1 February 2008.
  3. [3]
    "Chemicals of the natural environment" (PDF). Retrieved 1 February 2008. [dead link]


Stub icon

This crystallography-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Ionic_crystal, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.