Cesium Chloride

Download the structure for interactive viewing

Show details and options

Hide

Go to CsCl Cesium Chloride at Stephen Heyes' website at Oxford University and click on the image of the CsCl crystal structure to download and open in CrystalMaker for viewing, or...

Download the CsCl structure as Cesium Chloride unit cell ( 4kB Jun8 07). This is a cmdf file which you can view in CrystalMaker.

Show details and options

Hide

Open the Crystal Structures Library on the CrystalMaker disc, and click on Other Inorganic > Halides > CsCl.

Show details and options

Hide

Click on the CsCl file in the XtalDraw folder.

Show details and options

Hide

Go to Crystal Structures (more info) and choose "Cesium chloride lattice", which is listed under "Some common cubic lattices". This resource is currently off-line. Please check back at a later date.

Questions

1. What is the coordination number of Cs?
2. If all the Cl atoms bonded to an individual Cs atom are connected, what is the polyhedron that forms around Cs?
3. Compare the structures of NaCl and CsCl. Why are they different? (Hint: What is the difference between the size of a Na and Cs ion?.
4. The strength of bonds around a cation is the cationic charge divided by the number of bonds (the coordination number). Calculate and compare the bond strengths in NaCl and CsCl.
5. Bond strength is inversely proportional to solubility. Which would you expect to be more soluble, NaCl or CsCl?
6. Which element, Na or Cs, will most readily fit into mineral structures, and which will be excluded during a crystallization sequence (i.e., it will be concentrated in a magma) and why?