Activity 3. How do the overall charges of the cation and anion contribute to the net charge of the entire compound?
| Step 1. Select the: cation-iron (II) and anion-
flourine, and observe the charges of the common ions that appear. Step 2. Add one cation and one anion. Locate the superscript to the upper right of the compound's formula. Does this superscript represent the overall charge of one flourine? Impossible, flourine is an anion and must have a negative charge! What does this charge represent? If you were to add two positives (or one Fe+2) to one negative (or one Fl-1), what would it equal?? [ (+2) + (-1) = ?? ] Is it equal to the superscript located in the upper right of the formula? |
|
Step 3. Add another cation (Fe subscript = 2), notice what happens to the ionic compound's net charge. By how much does it change? Why does it become more positive by 2? How does the charge of the cation you just added to the compound relate to the change in the ionic compound's net charge? (Is the number the same or different)?
Step 4. Add four more anions (so there is a total of five anions); Write down a mathematical formula that describes what the ionic compound's net charge is equal to, using numbers and charges of cations and anions as your variables. Click here to check your result.