Why are ionic solids brittle?

Answer 1

The reason why ionic compounds are brittle is because the ions in the compound are already held rigidly in place in a lattice due to the strong electrostatic forces of attraction in between the cations and the anions as well as the repulsion in the ions with like charges . However, if a large enough force is applied along a certain plane, this causes the ions to shift along that layer, displacing that layer with respect to the next, and there will hence be a repulsion between like charges within the ionic compound. This repulsion will shatter the crystal lattice of the ionic compound..

Answer 2

Ionic solids are brittle and crack when stress is applied .This is because there are inter-ionic forces of attraction b/w the ion of the solids..When stress is applied the similarly charged ions come in interaction to each other and forces of repulsion are developed b/w the ions and the solid is thus cracked.....

Answer 3

In each covalent molecule, the bonds between the atoms are strong but the bonds between molecules are usually weak. This makes many solid materials with covalent bonds brittle

Answer 4

because ionic solids are composed of parallel layers of cations and anions in alternate positions such that opposite ions lie over each other when stress is applied these layers slip pass each other and similar ions comes infront of each other and they start repelling this causes brittlesness

Answer 5

a strong repulsive force created when cations suddenly align

Answer 6

This is due to the rigid interactions between charged ions. This holds the ions in fixed positions and causes ionic substances to be brittle.

Answer 7

Because the arrangement within the atoms of the elements attract each other and go (+-+-+-)