Question

Why is it unlikely for magnesium to form a cation with a charge of +1?

Answer 1

It is unlikely for magnesium to form a cation with a charge of +1 as its electronic configuration will become highly unstable.

• Magnesium has an atomic number of 12.
• The electronic configuration of the magnesium atom is written as:

$[Mg]=1s^22s^22p^63s^2$

• Magnesium atoms in order to get stable will lose two electrons and attain the noble gas configuration of neon gas.

$[Mg^{2+}]=1s^22s^22p^6$

• The electronic configuration of neon gas:

$[Ne]=1s^22s^22p^6$

• Magnesium cannot form a cation with a +1 charge because that will lead to unfilled s-orbital and will make than cation unstable duet to which it will easily lose that single electron and will form cation with +2 charge.

$[Mg^+]=1s^22s^22p^63s^1\text{( Highly unstable)}$

So, from this, we can conclude that it is unlikely for magnesium to form a cation with a charge of +1 as its electronic configuration will become highly unstable.

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