Structure of Ionic Solids

AP Chemistry· difficulty 4/5

Lattice energies for the alkali fluorides decrease in the order LiF > NaF > KF.

The trend is best explained by:

A
$Differences in covalent character$
B
$Increasing cation size means greater cation-anion separation, weakening Coulombic attraction$
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C
$Increasing nuclear charge of the cation$
D
$Increasing F- charge$

Explanation

All compounds have ions with the same charges; only the cation radius changes (Li < Na < K), which increases r and weakens lattice energy.

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