Question

What are the cations and anions for V2(CO3)3

Answer 1

In chemistry, the nomenclature convention would be placing the cation first, followed by the anion. A cation is the positively charged ion, while an anion is the negatively charged ion. When these ions combine, their charges are 'cross-multiplied' and transformed to subscripts of the compound. Therefore, for the compound V₂(CO₃)₃, the cation is V³⁺ and the anion is CO₃²⁻.

Answer 2

Explanation:

Cations are the species that hold a positive charge by losing electrons.

For example, $Na^{+}$, $V^{2+}$, $Ca^{+}$ etc are all cations.

Whereas anions are the species that hold a negative charge by gaining electrons.

For example, $Cl^{-}$, $CO^{2-}_{3}$, $S^{2-}$ are all anions.

Therefore, in the compound $V_{2}(CO_{3})_{3}$, vanadium ($V^{3+}$) is the cation and carbonate ($CO^{2-}_{3}$) is the anion.