How To Draw Sodium Chloride

I hate this question and I have a feeling it will come up this summer in the Edexcel unit 1 paper. I am retaking from that really hard paper in January I did, as I got a B and think I can do better..

Anyway, how do you draw sodium chloride? It is so hard to draw the actual cubic shape with all the bonds..it´s testing your art - not understanding of chemistry!

Is it certain that you will always get the marks if you draw it using the 3D effect.. So you draw a chloride ion with 6 sodium ions around it, with the dotted lines or thicker lines to make it look 3D or show it´s 3D and then do the same vice versa with the Sodium ion in the middle and write something along the lines of "repeating structure to build up giant cubic lattice"

Would this get you the mark?

If not, how the heck do you do this question?

Thanks

I've just done a past paper and this came up - it is testing art skills!!

If you label it right, that would probably be enough (don't take my word for that though)... it just gets so complicated and confusing trying to do a huge lattice-type thing :p:

Try looking at a mark scheme that has asked for the diagram before on a past paper?

They expect you to show it´s 3D by drawing at least 3 layers.. so the cube is two layers and you need to add a third to be on the safe side.. I can draw a cube but no more than that.. is the cube ok?

Yeah..but that´s impossible to draw..especially when it´s for like 3 marks.

I had to draw face centred cubic cells in my exam today, half the page was scribbled out and I wrote a note to the lecturer apologising for my awful inability to draw cubes.

I feel your pain.

i don't know if it's the same for edexcel, but i do the ocr exam.

i find you don't need to draw the bonds etc.
i would draw something like this and get full marks:

they probably give you the three marks for
showing the lattice structure ie. drawing it as a 3d cube
showing the positive charge of sodium
and the negative charge of chloride.

Would you be allowed to annotate the diagram?

The way I do it is by drawing a 2D 'Layer 1' with a central chlorine surrounded by 4 sodiums. Then I draw a 2D 'Layer 2' with a central sodium surrounded by 4 chlorines. Then I make a little comment about having several layers and to alternate between 'Layer 1' and 'Layer 2'.

I hope that makes sense. My teacher said is was fine to do it like that and you'd still get the marks. Don't forget to label which is chlorine and which is sodium.