1)How many protons and electrons are in a sulfate ion SO4^2- ?
I know the answer is 48 protons and 50 electrons but i do not know how to get this from the ion.
2) What is the charge on a sulfide ion?
The answer is -2 but im not sure why. Is sulfide always -2?
Disregard
1) To determine the number of protons and electrons in a sulfate ion (SO4^2-), we need to understand the atomic structure and the concept of ions.
First, we need to know the atomic number of sulfur (S), which is 16. This tells us that an uncharged sulfur atom has 16 protons and 16 electrons.
Next, we look at the sulfate ion (SO4^2-). The superscript "2-" indicates that the ion has a charge of -2, meaning it has a net excess of 2 electrons compared to the number of protons.
Since electrons are negatively charged particles, adding 2 more electrons to the atom will result in a negative charge. Therefore, the sulfate ion has 16 protons and 18 electrons (16 original electrons + 2 additional electrons to account for the -2 charge).
2) The charge on a sulfide ion is -2. The charge, or oxidation state, of an ion refers to the number of electrons gained or lost by the atom to achieve a stable electronic configuration.
Sulfide is an anion formed by the element sulfur (S) gaining 2 electrons. Sulfur's atomic number is 16, which indicates it normally has 16 electrons and 16 protons to maintain neutrality. However, when sulfur gains 2 electrons, it now has a total of 18 electrons (16 original electrons + 2 additional electrons).
Since electrons are negatively charged, having more electrons than protons results in a net negative charge. Consequently, sulfide carries a charge of -2. It's important to note that in most cases, sulfide is found with a -2 charge, but there are exceptions where it can have different charges in specific compounds or environments.