Question

Will magnesium and fluorine atoms most likely form an ionic bond or a covalent bond?

Answer 1

Answer:

Ionic bond

Explanation:

The magnesium atom gives up 2 electrons to form a magnesium ion, Mg2+ . The two electrons are transferred to fluorine atoms to form two fluoride ions, F–.

Answer 2

Explanation:

Atomic number of magnesium is 12 and its electronic configuration is $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}$.

And, atomic number of fluorine is 9 and its electronic configuration is $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{5}$.

Therefore, magnesium needs to attain stability by losing two valence electrons and fluorine needs to attain stability by gaining one electron.

Hence, two fluorine atoms will chemically combine with one atom of magnesium to acquire stability.

Therefore, magnesium will donate its valence electron to each fluorine atom. This will form an ionic compound magnesium fluoride ($MgF_{2}$).

Thus, we can conclude that magnesium and fluorine atoms most likely form an ionic bond.