The common Ionic Charges of Nickel (Ni) are 2+ and 3+.
But the question is how can you find the ionic charge on Nickel (Ni)?
Well, nickel is a transition element and all the transition and post-transition elements have a variable ionic charge.
The ionic charge of nickel (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 Nickel (Ni) 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 Nickel (Ni)?
As I mentioned earlier, the ionic charge of Nickel (Ni) can be found out by looking at what it is bonded with.
So let’s take examples of compounds of Nickel (Ni) like NiCl2, NiO, Ni2O3, etc.
Example 1: NiCl2
In NiCl2, the Nickel (Ni) 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 Ni should be 2+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Nickel in NiCl2 is 2+.
Example 2: NiO
In NiO, the Nickel (Ni) 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 Ni should be 2+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Nickel in NiO is 2+.
Example 3: Ni2O3
Similarly in Ni2O3, the Nickel (Ni) 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 Ni should be 3+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Nickel in Ni2O3 is 3+.
In this way, Nickel can have variable charges depending on what it is bonded to.
But as seen from the above examples,
The most common charges of Nickel (Ni) are 2+ and 3+.
I hope you have understood why nickel has variable ionic charges.
Check out some other related topics for your practice.
Related topics:
Charge of Chromium (Cr)
Charge on SO3
Charge on CO2
Charge on H2O (Water)
Charge on ClO4 (Perchlorate 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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