What is the formula for calcium fluoride? How many fluorine atoms does it contain?
1 Answer
Explanation:
Calcium is a Group 2 metal. Fluorine is a Group 17 gas. Towards the right of the Periodic table, ELEMENTS tend to get smaller as the increased nuclear charge exerts a greater attractive force on the valence electrons. The small fluorine atom tends to attract electrons, and is energetically most stable when it forms the
On the other hand, calcium is a large Group 2 metal. It has 2 valence electrons, which are in the valence (the outermost) shell, and nuclear charge is somewhat diminished for these electrons. Calcium tends to be oxidized (to lose electrons) to form
So if calcium and fluorine want to make music together (or at least form a chemical bond), then a formula of