Why does an iron ion attract a sulfide ion but not a zinc ion?

The iron ion and the zinc ion are positive and don't attract each other. The sulfide ion is negative and is attracted both to the iron ion and to the zinc ion.

Metal ions and non-metal ions always combine to form an ionic bond. Metals lose electrons to gain a fully filled outer shell to become stable and non-metals gain electrons to attain a full outer shell.

Iron ion has a charge of +2 or +3, which means depending on how many electrons it has in it's outer shell it loses those many electrons, Zinc on the other hand has a charge of +2 which means in a chemical reaction it will lose 2 electrons to form a positive 2 ion. Since both iron and zinc lose electron they are not attracted to each other.

Iron ion is attracted to sulfide ion because sulfide ion will gain the electrons lost by iron ion and form a negative ion, which means positive iron ion will be attracted to the negative sulfide ion and they will be held together by an electrostatic force of attraction.

The attraction between ions is based on their charges. The iron ion, Fe2+, has a positive charge of +2, while the sulfide ion, S2-, has a negative charge of -2. Opposite charges attract each other, so the positive iron ion and the negative sulfide ion are attracted to each other.

On the other hand, the zinc ion, Zn2+, also has a positive charge of +2. Since both the zinc ion and the sulfide ion are positive, they do not have opposite charges and do not attract each other.

In summary, the iron ion attracts the sulfide ion because they have opposite charges, while the zinc ion does not attract the sulfide ion because they have the same positive charge.

To understand why an iron ion attracts a sulfide ion but not a zinc ion, we need to consider the charges and electron configurations of these ions.

An iron ion typically has a charge of +2, meaning it has lost two electrons and has more protons than electrons. This charge gives the iron ion a positive charge. On the other hand, a sulfide ion has a charge of -2, meaning it has gained two electrons and has more electrons than protons. This charge gives the sulfide ion a negative charge.

The opposite charges of the iron ion and sulfide ion create an electrostatic attraction between them. The positively charged iron ion is attracted to the negatively charged sulfide ion.

Now let's consider the zinc ion. A zinc ion typically has a charge of +2, similar to the iron ion. However, the electronic configuration of zinc is different from iron. Zinc has a full d-orbital, meaning it has a stable electron configuration and doesn't readily gain or lose electrons.

Since the zinc ion has a positive charge and doesn't have a partially filled d-orbital, it doesn't interact strongly with negative ions like the sulfide ion. Thus, the zinc ion does not attract the sulfide ion as strongly as the iron ion does.

In summary, the attraction between an iron ion and a sulfide ion is due to their opposite charges, while the lack of attraction between a zinc ion and a sulfide ion is due to the stable electron configuration of zinc.