What is the oxidation state of magnesium?
1 Answer
Sep 16, 2016
The oxidation number of magnesium is +2
Explanation:
The electrical ground state of magnesium is
The 3s electrons are not stable. If magnesium loses the 2 3s electrons it has the electron configuration of Neon which is stable.
So when Magnesium loses the 2 3s electrons it has a charge of +2
Magnesium still has 12 protons but now has only 10 electrons
The 12 protons have a charge of +12
The 10 electrons have a charge of -10
+12 + (-10) = + 2