The common Ionic Charges of Chromium (Cr) are 2+, 3+ and 6+.
But the question is how can you find the ionic charge on Chromium (Cr)?
Well, chromium is a transition element and all the transition and post-transition elements have a variable ionic charge.
The ionic charge of chromium (or any other transition or post transition elements) depends on what it is bonded with.
So let’s try to find out the ionic charge of Chromium (Cr) 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 Chromium (Cr)?
As I mentioned earlier, the ionic charge of Chromium (Cr) can be found out by looking at what it is bonded with.
So let’s take examples of compounds of Chromium (Cr) like CrCl2, Cr2O3, CrO3, CrCl3, etc.
Example 1: CrCl2
In CrCl2, the Chromium (Cr) 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 Cr should be 2+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Chromium in CrCl2 is 2+.
Example 2: Cr2O3
In Cr2O3, the Chromium (Cr) 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 Cr should be 3+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Chromium in Cr2O3 is 3+.
Example 3: CrO3
Similarly in CrO3, the Chromium (Cr) is bonded to Oxygen (O).
And you know that the ionic charge of O is 2-.
So from this, you can easily say that the ionic charge of Cr should be 6+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Chromium in CrO3 is 6+.
In this way, Chromium can have variable charges depending on what it is bonded to.
But as seen from the above examples,
The most common charges of Chromium (Cr) are 2+, 3+ and 6+.
I hope you have understood why chromium has variable ionic charges.
Check out some other related topics for your practice.
Related topics:
Charge on SO3
Charge on CO2
Charge on H2O (Water)
Charge on ClO4 (Perchlorate ion)
Charge of Manganese (Mn)
Jay is an educator and has helped more than 100,000 students in their studies by providing simple and easy explanations on different science-related topics. With a desire to make learning accessible for everyone, he founded Knords Learning, an online learning platform that provides students with easily understandable explanations.
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