How di I write the Lewis structure of magnesium chloride?

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Answer 1 · 2016-07-29T01:58:26

See below.

$"MgCl"_2$ is an ionic compound.

The electron configuration of $"Mg"$ is $1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 4s^2$ .

$"Mg"$ can get a noble gas $s^2p^6$ configuration by losing its two $4s$ electrons and forming a magnesium ion, $"Mg"^(2+)$ .

The electron configuration of $"Cl"$ is $1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^5$ .

$"Cl"$ can get a noble gas $s^2p^6$ configuration by gaining an electron and forming a chloride ion, $"Cl"^"-"$ .

The Lewis structure of $"MgCl"_2$ is therefore

The compound is held together by electrostatic attractions between the positively charged magnesium ion and the negatively charged chloride ions.