Structure and Bonding Summary
Type of Lattice | Giant Ionic | Giant Metallic | Giant Covalent | Simple Covalent Molecule |
Example | NaCl | Mg | diamond (C) | I2, H2O |
Particles | metal + non metal | metal+ ions and e- | atoms | atoms |
Bonds | ionic bonding (electrostatic attraction between cation and anion) | metallic bonds (electrostatic attraction between cations and delocalised electrons) | strong covalent bonds (electrostatic attraction between the nuclei of bonding atoms and the shared pair(s) of electron | strong covalent intramolecular bonds weak intermolecular forces |
Melting/boiling point | high | high | high | low |
Conductivity | no when solid yes when molten or aqueous | good, higher when molten | no, however graphite and graphene do due to the delocalised electrons | no - no mobile charge carriers |
Extras | soluble in water | diamond is hard, graphite is quite soft | soluble in non-polar substances |