Sciencemadness Discussion Board

What forces hold the Sodium Chloride lattice together?

Yttrium2 - 27-11-2015 at 15:22

I'm pretty sure this will be in my notes that I haven't quite gotten to yet, but the question came up and I'm antsy to satisfy my curiosity

DraconicAcid - 27-11-2015 at 15:25

Ion-ion attractions.

Yttrium2 - 27-11-2015 at 15:35

I'm sure I'd catch this if I studied on, but I'm anxious
Wouldn't the positive and negative charge of the cation and the anion cancel each other out and form a neutral compound? What is left to cause a charge attraction?

is it that as an electron leaves sodium and goes to chlorine it become + and the chlorine becomes negative, when they are combined as a compound? With opposite charges which causes them to be neutral, but then have charged ends?

[Edited on 11/27/2015 by Yttrium2]

[Edited on 11/27/2015 by Yttrium2]

j_sum1 - 27-11-2015 at 16:07

Opposite charges attract.

I suggest you read your textbook. It really is not that difficult. But it will be easier for you to isolate the particular point that you are stumbling on through thorough reading than it will be to thrash it out on a message board. In any case, questions like this one are ideally suited to the short questions thread.

I recommend this video. I get my students to watch it multiple times. It is well scripted and every word is important. By the time you get to the point where you can nearly quote it, you will have a pretty good handle on the situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhC42qxk5kQ

CharlieA - 27-11-2015 at 18:26

@j_sum1:Excellent video. Short and succinct. Thanks for the link. Charlie