Is magnesium chloride(Mg Cl2) an ionic compound?
Yes! This is due to Magnesium’s desire to lose 2 electrons and become as stable as Neon. Since each Chlorine atoms wants 1 electron, and there are two of them, then the 2 electrons that Magnesium wants to get rid of fit the bill perfectly for Chlorine. When these two electrons move from Magnesium to each Chlorine atom, the Magnesium is no longer an atom since it now has an overall charge of +2 (due to losing two electrons that are negatively charged particles) and it is called the Magnesium Ion. Each Chlorine atom has gained an electron and the Chlorine atoms are also called ions but their name changes to Chloride to show it’s a negatively charged ion. With the movement of the electrons you’ve had three ions created, one Mg ion and two Cl ions. Since oppositely charged particles are attracted to each other they stick to each another (Mg in the middle with each Cl on opposite sides) and this attraction is called an ionic bond. Ironically bonded compounds are called ionic compounds.
