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Chapter 37: Problem 2

Why do ionically bonded materials have high melting points?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Ionically bonded materials have high melting points due to the strong electrostatic forces of attraction between oppositely charged ions in an ionic lattice. A large amount of energy is required to disrupt these forces and cause the compound to change state (melt or boil).

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Ionic Bonds

An ionic bond is a chemical bond between two atoms where one atom gives up one or more electrons to another atom. This results in a positive ion (called a cation) and a negative ion (called an anion). In their quest for achieving a stable electron configuration, atoms gain or lose electrons and as a result, they form charged ions which pile up electrostatically to form ionic bonds.
02

Ionic Compound Formation

These cations and anions, aided by their opposite charges and high electrostatic attraction, arrange themselves into a giant structure known as an ionic lattice, leading to the formation of an ionic compound. The size, shape and pattern of this lattice structure depend on the sizes and charges of the ions involved.
03

High Melting Points of Ionic Compounds

Due to the large amount of energy required to disrupt the electrostatic forces of attraction between the oppositely charged ions in the lattice structure, ionic compounds typically exhibit high melting points and boiling points.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Carbon dioxide contributes to global warming because the triatomic CO, molecule exhibits many vibrational and rotational excited states, and transitions among them occur in the infrared region where Earth emits most of its radiation. Among the strongest IR-absorbing transitions is one that takes \(\mathrm{CO}_{2}\) from its ground state to the first excited state of a "bending" vibration and sets the molecule rotating in its first rotational excited state. The energy required for this transition is 82.96 meV. What IR wavelength does this transition absorb?

Is it useful to think of the highest-energy electrons as "belonging" to individual atoms in an ionically bonded molecule? In a covalently bonded molecule?

The Fermi energy in metals is much higher than the thermal energy at typical temperatures. Why does this make the mean speed of conduction electrons nearly independent of temperature?

Find the wavelength of a photon emitted in the \(l=5\) to \(l=4\) transition of a molecule whose rotational inertia is \(1.75 \times 10^{-47} \mathrm{kg} \cdot \mathrm{m}^{2}\)

Name some technological innovations that might result from a room-temperature superconductor.
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