The common Ionic Charge of Vanadium (V) is 5+, but it also shows other ionic charges such as 2+, 3+ and 4+.
But the question is how can you find the ionic charge on Vanadium (V)?
Well, vanadium is a transition element and all the transition and post-transition elements have a variable ionic charge.
The ionic charge of vanadium (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 Vanadium (V) 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 Vanadium (V)?
As I mentioned earlier, the ionic charge of Vanadium (V) can be found out by looking at what it is bonded with.
So let’s take examples of compounds of Vanadium (V) like V2O5, VO2, VCl3, etc.
Example 1: V2O5
In V2O5, the Vanadium (V) is bonded to Oxygen (O).
You know that the ionic charge of O is 2-.
So you can easily say that the ionic charge of V should be 5+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Vanadium in V2O5 is 5+.
Example 2: VO2
In VO2, the Vanadium (V) 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 V should be 4+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Vanadium in VO2 is 4+.
Example 3: VCl3
Similarly in VCl3, the Vanadium (V) is bonded to Chlorine (Cl).
And you know that the ionic charge of Cl is 1-.
So from this, you can easily say that the ionic charge of V should be 3+, then only it will get canceled out.
Hence the ionic charge of Vanadium in VCl3 is 3+.
In this way, Vanadium can have variable charges depending on what it is bonded to.
I hope you have understood why vanadium has variable ionic charges.
Check out some other related topics for your practice.
Related topics:
Charge of Mercury (Hg)
Charge of Helium (He)
Charge of Gold (Au)
Charge of Cesium (Cs)
Charge on SO2 (Sulfur dioxide)
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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