---
title: "A student applies a shear force to a crystal of an ionic solid, such as \\(\\text{NaCl(s)}\\). The particulate representation below shows a section of the crystal lattice before and immediately after the layer of ions is shifted.  Which of the following best explains why the ionic solid fractures rather than deforming malleably when the force is applied?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/119645/"
date_modified: "2026-08-21T08:11:54+00:00"
---

# A student applies a shear force to a crystal of an ionic solid, such as \(\text{NaCl(s)}\). The particulate representation below shows a section of the crystal lattice before and immediately after the layer of ions is shifted.

Which of the following best explains why the ionic solid fractures rather than deforming malleably when the force is applied?

A student applies a shear force to a crystal of an ionic solid, such as \(\text{NaCl(s)}\). The particulate representation below shows a section of the crystal lattice before and immediately after the layer of ions is shifted.

Which of the following best explains why the ionic solid fractures rather than deforming malleably when the force is applied?

![A grayscale diagram containing two side-by-side rectangular panels labeled Before stress and After stress. A legend at the top maps: open white circle with a central plus sign = cation, solid black circle with a central minus sign = anion. In the Before stress panel, a two-dimensional lattice consists of two horizontal rows of four alternating ions: the top row has cation, anion, cation, anion; the bottom row has anion, cation, anion, cation, such that opposite charges align vertically. A single horizontal arrow pointing to the right is positioned above the top row. In the After stress panel, the top row is shifted horizontally one position to the right relative to the bottom row, aligning cations directly above cations and anions directly above anions across three overlapping vertical pairs. Vertical double-headed zigzag arrows are drawn between the three vertically aligned pairs of like charges along the horizontal boundary line. No other particles, labels, text, or annotations appear.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1787299914-tK4Wm6.jpg)

- **A.** The shifting of the ion layers causes ions of like charge to align directly adjacent to one another, resulting in strong electrostatic repulsive forces that split the crystal.
- **B.** Delocalized valence electrons are displaced from the lattice, eliminating the metallic bonds that hold the ions together.
- **C.** Covalent bonds between paired atoms are permanently broken, preventing the atoms from reforming shared electron pairs.
- **D.** The displacement increases the average distance between opposite charges, which weakens the attractive forces without generating repulsive forces.

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/119645/*