Question

An ionic compound is made up of A cations and B anions. If A cations are present at the alternate corners and B anion is present on the body of the diagonal, what is the formula of the ionic compound?

Answer 1

As cations A are present at alternate corners, i.e., 4 corners, the number of A cations in the unit cell = `4 xx 1/8 = 1/2`

As anions B are present at the body centre, therefore, the number of B ions in the unit cell = 1

Hence, the formula of the compound = AB₂