Mistake Master
Mistake Master · AP Chemistry · Unit 2 · Step-Through Animation
No Such Thing as a Salt Molecule
You'll learnwhy an ionic solid is one lattice, and how every property falls out of that.
Ask how many atoms are in one molecule of table salt and almost everyone answers two. Look at the crystal, though, and there is no pair anywhere in it — which turns out to explain the melting point, the shattering and the conductivity all at once. Twelve short steps; press Next for each one.
one crystal · no molecules · every property falls out of it
Before you start
What you're looking at
An intact crystal of table salt: Na⁺ and Cl⁻ ions alternating in every direction.
The question
How many atoms are in one molecule of table salt?
Step 1 / 12