What is the Ionic Charge of Antimony (Sb)? And Why?

The common Ionic Charges of Antimony (Sb) are 3-, 3+ and 5+.

But the question is how can you find the ionic charge on Antimony (Sb)?

Well, antimony is one of the elements that have a variable ionic charge.

The ionic charge of antimony depends on what it is bonded with.

So let’s try to find out the ionic charge of Antimony (Sb) using some examples.

You can also refer to the below video from which you will learn to find charge of any ion.

How to find the ionic charge of Antimony (Sb)?

As I mentioned earlier, the ionic charge of Antimony (Sb) can be found out by looking at what it is bonded with.

So let’s take examples of compounds of Antimony (Sb) like SbCl₃, Sb₂O₅, SbH₃, etc.

Example 1: SbCl₃
In SbCl₃, the Antimony (Sb) is bonded to Chlorine (Cl).
You know that the ionic charge of Cl is 1-.
So you can easily say that the ionic charge of Sb should be 3+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Antimony in SbCl₃ is 3+.

Example 2: Sb₂O₅
In Sb₂O₅, the Antimony (Sb) is bonded to Oxygen (O).
And again, you know that the ionic charge of O is 2-.
So here also you can easily say that the ionic charge of Sb should be 5+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Antimony in Sb₂O₅ is 5+.

Example 3: SbH₃
Similarly in SbH₃, the Antimony (Sb) is bonded to Hydrogen (H).
And you know that the ionic charge of H is 1+.
So from this, you can easily say that the ionic charge of Sb should be 3-, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Antimony in SbH₃ is 3-.

In this way, Antimony can have variable charges depending on what it is bonded to.

But as seen from the above examples,
The most common charges of Antimony (Sb) are 3-, 3+ and 5+.

I hope you have understood why antimony has variable ionic charges.

Check out some other related topics for your practice.

Related topics:
Charge of Molybdenum (Mo)
Charge on HCN
Charge on N2O (Nitrous oxide)
Charge of Germanium (Ge)
Charge on H2S