Determining the number of electrons in a compound [ENDORSED]
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Determining the number of electrons in a compound
Can someone explain to me again how to add up the electrons in a compound like Lavelle did in class with SO4^-2 please
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Re: Determining the number of electrons in a compound [ENDORSED]
With SO4^2-, you need to first look at the periodic table to determine how many valence electrons sulfur and oxygen have. Both of them are in Group 16, so they both have 6 valence electrons. Since the ionic compound has 4 oxygens, you do 4 x 6 = 24 to get the total number of electrons from oxygen in the compound. Thus sulfur's valence electrons (6) + oxygen's valence electrons (24) = 30. But since the overall ionic compound has a negative charge of 2-, you need to add 2 more electrons (to get the charge of 2-) and so 30 + 2 = 32 valence electrons in SO4^2-.
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Re: Determining the number of electrons in a compound
So, to add up the electrons of a compound, you need to first count the number of valence electrons for each atom. In SO4^2-, Sulfur has 6 valence electrons and Oxygen has 6 valence electrons. But there is 4 oxygens, so the total number of electrons of oxygen is 24e-. You add the 24e- of oxygen with the 6e- of sulfur which equals 30e-. Then, because the compound has a 2- charge, you add 2e-, which makes the total number of electrons 32e-.
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