Dot and cross diagrams are fine for showing the electronic structure of the ions

in a crystal lattice of an ionic compound, but cannot show how the ions are arr
anged.
A 2D diagram of the ions gives a limited view of how the ions are arranged in th
e crystal, but only a 3D diagram can show how the ions are arranged in the solid
ionic compound, but neither show any electronic structure detail of how the ion
s were formed in making the ionic bond.
electronic diagram for NaCl
or the simpler 2D representations
3D diagrams of NaCl
A GIANT IONIC LATTICE
explaining its properties
The diagram on the right is typical of the giant ionic crystal structure of ioni
c compounds like sodium chloride and magnesium oxide.
Solid ionic compounds consist of a giant lattice of closely packed ions which ar
e all combine together to form a crystal.
The alternate positive and negative ions in an ionic solid are arranged in an or
derly/regular way in a giant ionic lattice structure shown on the right.
The ionic bond is the strong electrical attraction between the oppositely charge
d positive and negative ions next to each other in the lattice, so the electrost
atic force of attraction in ionic compounds acts in all directions.
The ionic bonding extends throughout the crystal in all directions.
Salts and metal oxides are typical ionic compounds.
This strong bonding force makes the structure hard (if brittle) and have high me
lting and very high boiling points, so they are not very volatile!
A relatively large amount of energy is needed to melt or boil ionic compounds to
reduce/overcome the strong bonding forces.
The more energy needed, the higher the melting point and boiling point, so most
ionic compounds only melt and boil at relatively high temperatures - a direct co
nsequence of the strong chemical bonding in ionic compounds.
Energy changes for the physical changes of state of melting and boiling for a ra
nge of differently bonded substances are compared in a section of the Energetics
Notes.
The bigger the charges on the ions the stronger the bonding attraction e.g. magn
esium oxide Mg2+O2 has a much higher melting point than sodium chloride Na+Cl .
The ions of magnesium oxide are both doubly charged so the electrostatic attract
ion is much greater (its actually about 4x as strong attractive force).
As it happens in this case, the ions in magnesium oxide are smaller than the ion
s in sodium chloride, so the ions in magnesium oxide can pack closer together an
d this also increase the attractive bonding force.
This double effect results in a much stronger ionic bond in magnesium oxide, so
a much greater thermal kinetic energy i.e. a much greater temperature, is requir
ed to weaken the giant ionic lattice and melt the crystals of magnesium oxide co
mpared to sodium chloride.
Simple experimental evidence sodium chloride melts at 801oC, whereas magnesium o
xide melts much higher at 2852oC.
Unlike covalent molecules, ALL ionic compounds are crystalline solids at room te
mperature.
They are hard but brittle, when stressed the bonds are broken along planes of io
ns which shear away.
They are NOT malleable like metals.
Many ionic compounds are soluble in water, but not all, so don't make this assum
ption.
Salts can dissolve in water because the ions can separate and become surrounded
by water molecules which weakly bond to the ions (see diagrams below).
This reduces the attractive forces between the ions, preventing the crystal stru

cture to exist.
Evaporating the water from a salt solution will eventually allow the ionic cryst
al lattice to reform.
The solid crystals DO NOT conduct electricity because the ions are not free to m
ove to carry an electric current.
However, if the ionic compound is melted or dissolved in water, the liquid or so
lution will now conduct electricity.
This is because the ion particles are now free to move and carry the electric cu
rrent in the molten salt or the solution of the salt in aqueous solution (see di
agrams below).
An electric current is the flow of charged particles (ions or electrons).
This electrical conduction under these conditions is evidence for the existence
of ions in this type of compound.

An 'advanced' particle picture of sodium chloride dissolving in water

(the partial electrical charges d+ and d

are for advanced level students only)

==>
solid sodium chloride ==> molten sodium chloride (fixed ions to free moving ions
)