Question

What is the ionic formula for lithium oxide?

Answer 1

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