The common Ionic Charges of Iron (Fe) are 2+ and 3+.
But the question is how can you find the ionic charge on Iron (Fe)?
Well, iron is a transition element and all the transition and post-transition elements have a variable ionic charge.
The ionic charge of iron (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 Iron (Fe) using some examples.
If you are a visual learner like me, then here is a short two minute video for you.
How to find the ionic charge of Iron (Fe)?
As I mentioned earlier, the ionic charge of Iron (Fe) can be found out by looking at what it is bonded with.
So let’s take examples of compounds of Iron (Fe) like FeCl2, FeCl3, Fe2O3, etc.
Example 1: FeCl2
In FeCl2, the Iron (Fe) 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 Fe should be 2+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Iron in FeCl2 is 2+.
Example 2: FeCl3
In FeCl3, the Iron (Fe) is bonded to Chlorine (Cl).
And again, you know that the ionic charge of Cl is 1-.
So here also you can easily say that the ionic charge of Fe should be 3+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Iron in FeCl3 is 3+.
Example 3: Fe2O3
Similarly in Fe2O3, the Iron (Fe) 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 Fe should be 3+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Iron in Fe2O3 is 3+.
In this way, Iron can have variable charges depending on what it is bonded to.
But as seen from the above examples,
The most common charges of Iron (Fe) are 2+ and 3+.
I hope you have understood why iron has variable ionic charges.
Check out some other related topics for your practice.
Related topics:
Charge of Magnesium (Mg)
Charge of Hydrogen (H)
Charge of Phosphorus (P)
Charge on Acetate ion
Charge on NO2 (Nitrite ion)
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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