Question

What is chloride's charge?

Answer 1

The chloride ion has a SINGLE, NEGATIVE CHARGE.

Explanation:

`Cl^-` has 8 valence electrons. Since the neutral halogen atom has 7 valence electrons, chloride (and fluoride, and bromide, and iodide) bears a FORMAL, NEGATIVE CHARGE.

The chorine molecule, `Cl-Cl`, is NEUTRAL and ZEROVALENT, each chlorine atom has an oxidation state of `0`.