Testing the Crystalline Structure of NaCl_(s) - Cubic or Not?

Labwork

For the following section, you will need to use the Scanning Electron Microscope Simulator

Procedure:

1. Open the Scanning Electron Microscope Simulator
2. Under the "Lessons Sample", select "The Crystalline Structure of NaCl_(s)" and choose "Salt" as your sample.
3. Click the "Scan" button on the simulator screen to scan the salt.
4. Make observations about the sample. Draw an image of the salt
5. Use the stage position controls to move the sand. Zoom in using the controls on the right.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have reached the highest magnification possible on the simulator.
7. What is the 3D shape of an NaCl crystal?
8. Is the evidence of sufficient quality to evaluate the hypothesis that NaCl exists with a cubic crystalline structure?
9. Provide an evaluation of the hypothesis that NaCl exists as a cubic crystalline structure. Has the hypothesis that NaCl exists as a cubic crystalline structure been tested sufficiently?

Evaluation:

1. Was the SEM needed to view the crystals?
2. Could a magnifying glass or a laboratory microscope have been just as effective?
3. What other tests might have been more economic? more time-efficient? less technologically dependent? more environmentally friendly? less collaborative? less fun?