What kind of crystal lattice structure is formed when lithium and fluorine combine to form lithium fluoride?

An ionic bond is produced between metallic and non-metallic atoms, where electrons are completely transferred from one atom to another. During this process, one atom loses electrons and another one gains them, forming ions. Usually, the metal gives up its electrons forming a cation to the nonmetal element, which forms an anion.

Lithium fluoride is a chemical compound formed through a chemical bond of formula LiF. The electronic configuration of Li is 1s12s1 and that of fluorine is 1s12s22p5. When these atoms come into contact, the 2s1 valence electron of the lithium is transferred to the F atom.

Ionic solids can crystallize in various types of networks, depending on the size of the ions that form it and the charge they possess.

The solid NaCl has a crystalline structure, in which each Na + ion is surrounded by six chloride ions in an octahedral geometry. Therefore, it has a coordination (6: 6) whose numbers indicate how many neighbors surround each ion. The number on the right indicates the neighbors of Na +, while the one on the left, those of Cl-. The structure is based on a compact cubic packing (centered on the faces) of the anions and in which the cations occupy all the octahedral holes. The structure can also be seen as a compact cation packing structure with the anions occupying the octahedral holes. In each unit cell ions of one type occupy the vertices and centers of the faces of the cube while those of the opposite sign are located in the centers of the edges and in the center of the cube.