EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Ionic compounds conduct electricity when molten (liquid) or in aqueous solution (dissolved in water), because their ions are free to move from place to place. Ionic compounds cannot conduct electricity when solid, as their ions are held in fixed positions and cannot move.

Detailed explanation-2: -Ionic substances will not conduct electricity as solids. This is due to the fact that ions are not free to move in a solid as they are arranged in an ionic lattice. When an ionic substance is dissolved in solution or molten the ionic lattice is broken down allowing the ions to move freely and so conduction occurs.

Detailed explanation-3: -Generally, these crystal lattices are very hard to break. These crystal lattices form such strong bonds with each other which is stronger than the kinetic energy of the ions at normal room temperatures. Hence, the ions are unable to break away. Therefore, ionic compounds form solids with very strong unbreakable bonds.

Detailed explanation-4: -The ions of salt in the solid state are bonded with strong inter-particle forces. Hence, they are not free to move in a solid state and cannot conduct electricity. However, when this salt melts, its constituent ions get separated from each other.

Detailed explanation-5: -In every ionic compound, the total number of positive charges of the cations equals the total number of negative charges of the anions. Thus, ionic compounds are electrically neutral overall, even though they contain positive and negative ions.