In an ionic compound, the size of the ions affects the internuclear distance

Question

In an ionic compound, the size of the ions affects the internuclear distance (the distance between the centers of adjacent ions), which affects lattice energy (a measure of the attractive force holding those ions together).

Based on ion sizes, arrange these compounds by their expected lattice energy.

Note that many sources define lattice energies as negative values. Please arrange by magnitude and ignore the sign.

||lattice energy||=absolute value of the lattice energy

Answer 1

Because we are dealing with ions, I would automatically think charge first.

Coulomb's law describes the electrostatic force between two charged particles.

F = (kq1q2) / r^2

k = constant

q1= charge 1

q2= charge 2

r= distance between two charges

Therefore, because lattice energy is a measure of attractive forces (electrostatic forces) between two charged molecules (ionic), a smaller distance will give us a greater force.