1. Ionic Properties
Main Concept:
Ionic solids have high melting points, are brittle, and conduct electricity only when molten or in solution.

2. Ionic Properties Property: Cause: Effect: Vapor Pressure Hardness
Conductivity
Melting Point

3. - Many properties of ionic solid are related to their structure
- Generally have low vapor pressure due to strong Coulombic interactions b/w positive and negative ions arranged in regular three-dimensional array

4. - Tend to be brittle due to the repulsion of like charges caused when one layer slides across another layer

5. - Do not conduct electricity except when ionic solids are melted (because the ions are free to move)
- When dissolved in water, separated ions are free to move; therefore, these solutions conduct electricity

7. - Dissolving nonconducting solids in water and observing solution’s ability to conduct electricity, is one way to identify ionic solids
- Tend not to dissolve in nonpolar solvents because attractions b/w ions are much stronger than attractions b/w separated ions and the nonpolar solvent molecules

8. - Attractive force between any two ions is governed by Coulomb’s law: force is directly proportional to charge of each ion and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between centers of the ions

9. - For ions of a given charge, smaller ions mean smaller distances between ion center, stronger Coulombic forces of attraction, and higher melting points
- Ions with higher charges lead to higher Coulombic forces, and therefore higher melting points