Which is a binary ionic compound?
A. MgCl2B. C6H12O6C. CO2D. PO43-E. CH4
Answers
(Metalloids can also be used in ionic compounds, sometimes as cations and sometimes as anions, depending on the properties of the specific element.). In ionic compounds the metal will always be a cation and the non-metal will always be an anion. Please note, the negative oxidation numbers we wrote on top of Groups IVA, VA, VIA & VIIA on our periodic tables refer only to the non-metals and the metalloids. The metals in these columns have different oxidation numbers.
When forming ionic compounds the goal is to balance the number of positive charges with the number of negative charges. More specifically, you want to ensure that the number of electrons that the cations are giving up is equal to the number of electrons the anions need so that both have full outer energy level.
Binary ionic compounds contain only two elements, one is the cation and the other is the anion. It is important to remember that when writing binary ionic compounds THE CATION MUST ALWAYS BE WRITTEN FIRST.