rake
Last Activity: 11 Years ago
Ionic solids are hard
as they are made up of oppositely charged ions which are linked together with
very strong electrostatic force.
These oppositely charged ions are arranged in
the forms of layers.

When force is applied
on ionic solids, ions rearrange so that ions of similar charge align i.e. like charges come over each other
which results in electrostatic repulsion and the bonds break.

This is the reason why
ionic solids are brittle.