Before the gcse chemistry exam tomorrow, does anyone know what type of ion group 4 elements form (ie do they lose 4 electrons or gain 4)? I’ve tried looking online but can’t really find a conclusive answer.
Before the gcse chemistry exam tomorrow, does anyone know what type of ion group 4 elements form (ie do they lose 4 electrons or gain 4)? I’ve tried looking online but can’t really find a conclusive answer.
Thanks!
Group 4 are mixed, because there are some complications that are first explained at undergraduate level.
Tin and lead are the group 4 elements that tend to form ions (either +2 or +4 ions)- they will tell you the charge on the ion in the question at GCSE.
Any group 4 elements above lead and tin prefer to form covalent bonds, though.
Thanks for your replies! I did read a little about some of them forming 2+ ions, but got a bit muddled after that. Looks like it’s not really something I’m expected to know for gcse, so what you 2 have said should be enough to know!
By "Group 4" are you referring to Group 4 (titanium, zirconium, hafnium…) or Group 14 (carbon, silicon, germanium, tin, lead…)?
Assuming you mean Group 14, the general trend for oxidation states is: +4 as the "normal" oxidation state, but further down the Group, +2 becomes more common.