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Ch.8 - Basic Concepts of Chemical Bonding

Chapter 8, Problem 17a

(a) Using Lewis symbols, make a sketch of the reaction between magnesium and oxygen atoms to give the ionic substance MgO

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Hey everyone were asked to write the reaction between magnesium and sulfur that produces magnesium sulfide. And we have to use our lewis dot symbols. So we know that magnesium is a metal and our sulfur is a non metal, which means we have an ionic compound. So drawing out our reaction, we know that magnesium has two valence electrons since it's in our group to A And we add in that Sulfur, which is in our group six a. So it has six valence electrons. And since we have an ionic compound, this means our magnesium is going to transfer those valence electrons to sulfur. So sulfur will have those eight electrons. But since this happened, This means that magnesium will have that plus two charge since it gave away its electrons and sulfur will have that -2 charge since it took those electrons. And this is going to be our final reaction. So I hope that made sense. And let us know if you have any questions.