rock salt structure

The rock salt structure refers to how certain crystals, like sodium chloride (common table salt), are arranged at the atomic level. In this structure, each sodium ion is surrounded by six chloride ions, and each chloride ion is similarly surrounded by six sodium ions, forming a 3D cubic pattern. This creates a highly ordered, repeating pattern that extends throughout the material, resembling a cube-shaped lattice. This arrangement gives salt its characteristic cubic crystals and influences its physical properties, like hardness and solubility. It’s a common structure found in many ionic compounds where oppositely charged ions are held together in a stable, organized network.