Question

Is this a typo in my textbook? [See the image attached]

Answer 1

Well, it is a bit of clumsy wording......

Explanation:

`"The attraction is only between the non-positive ion, and the"` `"non-negative ion......"` is precisely the same as saying......

`"The attraction is only between the negative ion, and the"` `"positive ion......"`

Just out of interest which text is this? If it's from a publisher I know, I can give their rep a serve next time he comes in to tout texts.

Just to expand on this answer, the sodium cation is electrostatically attracted to EVERY chloride anion in the entire lattice, by reason of Coulomb's law. Of course, each sodium cation is electrostatically REPELLED by EVERY OTHER sodium cation in the entire lattice, but if you sum up all the attractive and repulsive interactions, which can certainly be done quantitatively, a NET ATTRACTIVE FORCE results.

And this ionic interaction gives rise to typical ionic properties: non-molecularity; high melting and boiling points; solubility in certain polar solvents; brittleness.