Structure of some ionic

crystals
ELEM ENT S AND CO M PO UNDS
Ionic crystals
G I n an ionic crystal, each ion i s
surrounded by a number of opposi tely
charged i onsi n a latticestructure.
G There are several typesof i oni c
structures.
Si mple: The atomsform gri ds.
Body centered: O ne atom si tsi n the
center of each cube.
Face centered: O ne atom si tsi n each
face of the cube.
G The latti ce structure i sdetermi ned by
two factors:
1. the rati o of the number of cations
( posi ti vely charged i ons) to anions
( negati vely charged i ons)
2. the rati o of the radi i of the i ons.
G I n general, the hi gher the value of the
radi usrati o the hi gher the
coordination number of the latti ce.
The coordi nati on number i sthe
number of atoms, i ons, or molecules
to whi ch bondscan be formed.
1Simple cubic structure
(CsCl)
G I n cesi um chlori de, the radi usrati o i s
0.94 ( due to the large cesi um i on) .
The coordi nati on i s8:8. Each i on i s
surrounded by 8 opposi tely charged
i ons.
2 Face-centered cubic
structure (NaCl)
G The radi usrati o i n the sodi um
chlori de latti ce i s0.57. The
coordi nati on i s6:6. Each i on i s
surrounded by 6 opposi tely charged
i ons.
3 Body-centered cubic
structure (CaF
2
)
G I n calci um fluori de the radi usrati o i s
0.75. The coordi nati on i s8:4. Each
calci um i on i ssurrounded by 8
fluori de i ons, whi le each fluori de i on i s
surrounded by 4 calci um i ons.
anion
bond
cation
coordination
number
ionic crystal
ion
lattice
Key words
38
c a ti o n s
a n i o n s
c a ti o n s
a n i o n s
c a ti o n s
a n i o n s
2 Face-centered cubic structure (NaCl)
1Simple cubic structure (CsCl)
3 Body-centered cubic structure (CaF
2
)

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