Give an example of one polyatomic cation and one polyatomic anion. Show how these ions combine to make a compound.
My thinking:
Cation-ClO
Anion-K
How they form, I don't know?
You omitted the charges. Should be
K^+ and ClO^- and form KClO. However, the question asks for a polyatomic cation and K^+ is not polyatomic. NH4^+ would be an example of a polyatomic cation. For anions I would have thought sulfate, SO4^2-, would have come to mind faster than hypochlorite, ClO^-.
If I did those two, how would I show the two ions coming to make (NH4)2SO4?
NH4^+ is the ammonium ion; ClO^- is the hypochlorite ion. The compound is NH4ClO because each has a valence of 1.
(NH4)2SO4 is the correct formula for ammonium sulfate.
Me no Understand pls translate
The polyatomic cation you provided, ClO, is actually not a cation but a polyatomic anion called hypochlorite. A commonly known polyatomic cation is NH₄⁺ (ammonium), and a polyatomic anion is SO₄²⁻ (sulfate). Let's consider how they combine to form a compound.
To combine these ions, we need to ensure that the total positive charge from the cation is balanced by the total negative charge from the anion. The charges must cancel out to create a neutral compound. In this case, the ammonium cation (NH₄⁺) has a charge of +1, and the sulfate anion (SO₄²⁻) has a charge of -2.
To balance the charges, we need two ammonium cations (2NH₄⁺) to neutralize one sulfate anion (SO₄²⁻). The resulting compound is (NH₄)₂SO₄, commonly known as ammonium sulfate.
(NH₄)₂SO₄:
- Contains two ammonium cations (2NH₄⁺), with each cation carrying a charge of +1.
- Contains one sulfate anion (SO₄²⁻), which has a charge of -2.
- When you combine them, the total positive charge becomes +2 (+1 x 2) and the total negative charge becomes -2 (-2).
- The charges cancel each other out, resulting in a compound with no net charge.
So, in summary, the polyatomic cation (NH₄⁺) and the polyatomic anion (SO₄²⁻) combine to form the compound (NH₄)₂SO₄, known as ammonium sulfate.