Concept:The Born-Haber cycle is an application of Hess's Law designed specifically to analyze the thermochemical steps involved in forming crystal lattices from charged particles.
Formula:$$ \Delta H_{\text{lattice}} = \Delta H_f - \Sigma (\text{ionization}, \text{electron affinity}, \text{etc.}) $$
Solution:- The cycle relies on measuring ionization energies (to form cations) and electron affinities (to form anions).
- These discrete charged gaseous ions then condense to form a solid lattice.
- This exact mechanism of cation-anion electrostatic attraction strictly defines the formation of Ionic solids (e.g., NaCl, KBr).
Why other options are incorrect:Covalent, metallic, and molecular solids are held together by covalent bonding, metallic "sea of electrons", and intermolecular forces respectively, which do not fit the cation-anion formation model of the Born-Haber cycle.
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