Question

Comment on the following property of ionic compounds and give reason in support of your answer:

Melting and boiling points

Answer 1

Because of the many simultaneous attractions between cations and anions that occur, ionic crystal lattices are very strong. The process of melting and boiling an ionic compound requires the addition of large amounts of energy to break all of the ionic bonds in the crystal. For example, sodium chloride has melting and boiling temperatures of about 800°C and 1465°C, respectively.