{"id":206643,"date":"2025-04-03T06:02:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T06:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=206643"},"modified":"2025-04-03T06:02:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T06:02:26","slug":"when-magnesium-and-oxygen-form-a-compound-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/03\/when-magnesium-and-oxygen-form-a-compound-together\/","title":{"rendered":"When magnesium and oxygen form a compound together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When magnesium and oxygen form a compound together, what happens?
Select one:
a. Magnesium forms a negative anion, and oxygen forms a positive cation
b. Magnesium remains neutral and oxygen forms a negative anion
c. Magnesium forms a positive cation, and oxygen forms a negative anion
d. Magnesium and oxygen share electrons in a covalent bond<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct answer and explanation is :<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct answer is:
c. Magnesium forms a positive cation, and oxygen forms a negative anion.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explanation:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When magnesium (Mg) and oxygen (O) react to form a compound, they undergo ionic bonding<\/strong>, which involves the transfer of electrons. Magnesium is a metal<\/strong> from Group 2 of the periodic table, meaning it has two valence electrons<\/strong>. Oxygen is a nonmetal<\/strong> from Group 16 and has six valence electrons<\/strong>, requiring two more electrons<\/strong> to complete its octet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the reaction:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Magnesium donates its two valence electrons<\/strong> to oxygen, becoming a positively charged cation (Mg\u00b2\u207a)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Oxygen accepts these two electrons<\/strong>, completing its octet and becoming a negatively charged anion (O\u00b2\u207b).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. These oppositely charged ions attract each other<\/strong>, forming an ionic bond and creating magnesium oxide (MgO).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    This process follows the octet rule<\/strong>, which states that atoms tend to gain, lose, or share electrons to achieve a full outer shell, similar to noble gases. The transfer of electrons from magnesium to oxygen results in a strong electrostatic force between the ions, forming a stable crystalline structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why are the other options incorrect?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Option a:<\/strong> Incorrect because magnesium does not form a negative anion, and oxygen does not form a positive cation. Metals lose electrons (becoming cations), while nonmetals gain electrons (becoming anions).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Option b:<\/strong> Incorrect because magnesium does not remain neutral; it loses electrons and becomes Mg\u00b2\u207a.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Option d:<\/strong> Incorrect because magnesium and oxygen do not share electrons (which would indicate a covalent bond). Instead, they form an ionic<\/strong> bond through electron transfer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      This is a fundamental concept in chemistry, demonstrating how metals and nonmetals interact to form stable ionic compounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      When magnesium and oxygen form a compound together, what happens?Select one:a. Magnesium forms a negative anion, and oxygen forms a positive cationb. Magnesium remains neutral and oxygen forms a negative anionc. Magnesium forms a positive cation, and oxygen forms a negative aniond. Magnesium and oxygen share electrons in a covalent bond The correct answer and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}