What are the properties of ionic compounds?

As you may know, ionic compounds are composed of electrostatic forces of attraction between oppositely charged ions. This means that there are no free moving ions in the compound, as they have all been bonded with other ions. Without free moving ions, compounds cannot conduct electricity - this is the first property. As the forces of attraction between the ions are strong, ionic compounds also have high melting and boiling points, as a lot of energy is required to break these bonds. Ionic compounds are also solid at room temperature, due to it being a giant ionic lattice.

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