Structures - (CCEA)Classifying structures

Ionic bonding holds ions together in a giant lattice. Covalent bonds create simple molecules or giant covalent structures. Different types of bonding give a substance different properties – different melting and boiling points, different electrical conductivity, and different solubility in water, among much else.

Part ofCombined ScienceStructures, trends, chemical reactions, quantitative chemistry and analysis

Classifying structures

Chemistry exam questions often provide data about a range of substances and ask students to classify them as an ionic lattice, molecular covalent, giant covalent or metallic.

Structure	Melting point	Solubility in water	Electrical conductivity
giant ionic lattice	high	soluble	conductive when molten or dissolved
molecular covalent	low	insoluble	not conductive
metallic lattice	usually high	insoluble	conductive
giant covalent (diamond)	high	insoluble	not conductive
giant covalent (graphite and graphene)	high	insoluble	conductive

Structure	giant ionic lattice
Melting point	high
Solubility in water	soluble
Electrical conductivity	conductive when molten or dissolved

Structure	molecular covalent
Melting point	low
Solubility in water	insoluble
Electrical conductivity	not conductive

Structure	metallic lattice
Melting point	usually high
Solubility in water	insoluble
Electrical conductivity	conductive

Structure	giant covalent (diamond)
Melting point	high
Solubility in water	insoluble
Electrical conductivity	not conductive

Structure	giant covalent (graphite and graphene)
Melting point	high
Solubility in water	insoluble
Electrical conductivity	conductive

Test your understanding

Metallic structures

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