Ionic lattices

Ionic compounds are formed by the loss and gain of electrons and are held together by strong electrostatic forces of attraction between appositely charged ions. These strong ionic bonds allow billions of ions to be packed together in a regular repeating arrangement called a lattice structure.

Some ions contain more than one atom. For example, the sulfate ion contains one sulfur atom bonded to four oxygen atoms with two added electrons. An ion name ending '-ate' or '-ite' shows that the ion contains oxygen as well as another element. 

If an ionic formula contains two or more…