Common Ions
2 guided lessons · 18 checks · 1. Principles of Chemistry → Ionic Bonding
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How to Deduce the Charge of an Ion
A group number plus one look at the outer shell settles most charges: count the outer electrons, then decide whether giving them away or topping up is easier. Fewer than four outer electrons points to donating and a positive ion; more than four points to receiving and a negative one.
What you know already
Ions are already explained: electrons lost or gained to reach a full outer shell, metals losing for positive, non-metals gaining for negative. This note turns that idea into a memorised toolkit - which charges each group gives, and the compound ions that keep appearing in equations.
Key points of understanding
- Deducing a charge starts from the outer electron shell: count the electrons sitting there.
- Atoms with fewer than four outer electrons donate them and form positive ions.
- Atoms with more than four outer electrons receive electrons and form negative ions.
- Group 1, 2 and 3 metals give 1+, 2+ and 3+ ions; group 5, 6 and 7 non-metals take 3-, 2- and 1-.
- Compound ions are ions made from more than one element, and their formulae must be learned as given.
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1.How to Deduce the Charge of an Ion
A group number plus one look at the outer shell settles most charges: count the outer electrons, then decide whether giving them away or topping up is easier. Fewer than four outer electrons points to donating and a positive ion; more than four points to receiving and a negative one.
Key points
- Deducing a charge starts from the outer electron shell: count the electrons sitting there.
- Atoms with fewer than four outer electrons donate them and form positive ions.
- Atoms with more than four outer electrons receive electrons and form negative ions.
- Group 1, 2 and 3 metals give 1+, 2+ and 3+ ions; group 5, 6 and 7 non-metals take 3-, 2- and 1-.
- Compound ions are ions made from more than one element, and their formulae must be learned as given.
Guided content from the SME authoring corpus — note rn_8Nv33F4dD3kkZnY6, pinned at da18433ed9e8 · promoted SyllabAI/syllabai-resources e967e75f1339