# How to know which ionic compound have the highest lattice energy without knowing the values of the radii?

Given two ionic compounds, for instance:

$$\ce{CaS} \quad \mathrm{or} \quad \ce{KCl}$$

What is the procedure to predict which of the two have the highest lattice energy (in absolute value)?

(Suppose that I do not know the values of radii of the atoms but I can only look at the periodic table).

I know that I must look at the ratio

$$\frac{Z_1 Z_2}{r_1 + r_2} \propto E_\text{lattice},$$

where $r_1 + r_2$ is the distance between the two atoms in each molecule of the compound, $Z_1 Z_2$ is the product of atomic numbers of each element in the molecule.

But, for example, in the case above I have both $r_1 + r_2$ and $Z_1 Z_2$ bigger for $\ce{KCl}$ then $\ce{CaS}$, so I cannot say (without knowing the numerical values) if one of the two ratios would be higher.

Am I missing something?

• The lattice energy is proportional to the charges of the atoms in the formula, not their atomic number! (There are no molecules in such simple ionic substances, btw.) – Karl Jul 24 '17 at 0:48

• So it depends mainly on how many electrons are exchanged! Thanks a lot! But, for istance, if I take $MgO$ and $MgS$, there are two electron exchanged in both, nevertheless the same problem showed in question remains, so is there a "secondary" criterium to select one of the two? – Sørën Jul 24 '17 at 8:38