Syllabus     |   Breslyn.org   |    Previous Section

When writing formulas for ions and ionic compounds we often need to find the ionic charge. A trend is to find the charge by looking at the Group on the Periodic Table.

For high school chemistry just knowing the general trend may be sufficient.

A more detailed Periodic Table with ionic charges shows where the generalization doesn't hold. Also note three Transition Metals that have only one possible charge. Ag⁺¹, Cd⁺², and Zn⁺². These should be memorized.