{"id":234124,"date":"2025-06-13T18:31:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T18:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=234124"},"modified":"2025-06-13T18:31:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T18:31:54","slug":"what-is-the-correct-lewis-dot-structure-for-mgcl2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/13\/what-is-the-correct-lewis-dot-structure-for-mgcl2\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the correct Lewis dot structure for MgCl2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


What is the correct Lewis dot structure for MgCl2? 0 [Mg]2+<\/sup> [:Cl:]–<\/sup> 0 :Cl: Mg :Cl: 0 [:Cl:]–<\/sup> [Mg]2+<\/sup> [:Cl:]–<\/sup> 0 :Cl: – Mg – :Cl: 0 [Mg]+<\/sup> [:Cl:]–<\/sup> [Mg]+<\/sup> Question 6<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the choices provided, the correct Lewis dot structure for MgCl\u2082 is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[:Cl:]\u207b [Mg]\u00b2\u207a [:Cl:]\u207b<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

To determine the correct Lewis structure for magnesium chloride (MgCl\u2082), we must first identify the type of bonding that occurs between the magnesium and chlorine atoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Identify the Elements and Bond Type:<\/strong>\n
      \n
    • Magnesium (Mg)<\/strong>\u00a0is an alkaline earth metal found in Group 2 of the periodic table. Metals have low electronegativity and tend to lose electrons to form positive ions (cations).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Chlorine (Cl)<\/strong>\u00a0is a halogen found in Group 17. Non-metals have high electronegativity and tend to gain electrons to form negative ions (anions).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The bond between a metal and a non-metal is\u00a0ionic<\/strong>, which involves the complete transfer of electrons from the metal to the non-metal, rather than the sharing of electrons seen in covalent bonds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Determine Valence Electrons and Ion Formation:<\/strong>\n
        \n
      • A neutral magnesium atom has two valence electrons. To achieve a stable electron configuration like the noble gas Neon, it will lose these two electrons, forming a magnesium cation with a +2 charge (Mg\u00b2\u207a<\/strong>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • A neutral chlorine atom has seven valence electrons. To achieve a stable octet (a full outer shell of eight electrons) like the noble gas Argon, it needs to gain one electron. This forms a chloride anion with a -1 charge (Cl\u207b<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Construct the Compound:<\/strong>\n
          \n
        • For the overall compound to be electrically neutral, the total positive charge must balance the total negative charge.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • One magnesium atom gives up two electrons. To accept these two electrons, two chlorine atoms are required, with each one gaining a single electron.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • This results in the formation of one Mg\u00b2\u207a ion and two Cl\u207b ions. The overall charge is (+2) + 2(-1) = 0.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Draw the Lewis Structure for the Ionic Compound:<\/strong>\n
            \n
          • For the\u00a0cation (Mg\u00b2\u207a)<\/strong>, we write the element’s symbol inside brackets with the charge as a superscript. No dots are shown because it has lost its valence electrons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • For the\u00a0anions (Cl\u207b)<\/strong>, we write the element’s symbol with its complete octet (eight dots) inside brackets, with the charge as a superscript.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • The final structure must show all the resulting ions. Therefore, the correct Lewis structure for MgCl\u2082 shows one [Mg]\u00b2\u207a ion and two [:Cl:]\u207b ions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            The option\u00a0[:Cl:]\u207b [Mg]\u00b2\u207a [:Cl:]\u207b<\/strong>\u00a0correctly illustrates the two chloride anions, each with a full octet and a -1 charge, and the single magnesium cation with a +2 charge, accurately representing the ionic nature and stoichiometry of magnesium chloride<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

            What is the correct Lewis dot structure for MgCl2? 0 [Mg]2+ [:Cl:]– 0 :Cl: Mg :Cl: 0 [:Cl:]– [Mg]2+ [:Cl:]– 0 :Cl: – Mg – :Cl: 0 [Mg]+ [:Cl:]– [Mg]+ Question 6 The Correct Answer and Explanation is: Of the choices provided, the correct Lewis dot structure for MgCl\u2082 is: [:Cl:]\u207b [Mg]\u00b2\u207a [:Cl:]\u207b Explanation: To […]<\/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-234124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234124","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=234124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}