What is the ionic formula for lithium oxide?

1 Answer
Feb 2, 2014

The ionic formula for Lithium Oxide is #Li_2O#.

Lithium is an Alkali Metal in the first column of the periodic table. This means that lithium has 1 valence electron it readily gives away in order to seek the stability of the octet. This makes lithium a #Li^(+1)# cation.?

Oxygen is in the 16th column or #p^4# group.
Oxygen has 6 valence electrons. It needs two electrons to make it stable at 8 electrons in its valence shells. This makes oxygen a #O^(-2)# anion.

Ionic bonds form when the charges between the metal cation and non-metal anion are equal and opposite. This means that two #Li^(+2)# cations will balance with one #O^(-2)# anions.

This makes the formula for lithium oxide #Li_2O#

I hope this is helpful.
SMARTERTEACHER