Question

Metals lose electrons under certain conditions to attain a noble-gas electron configuration. how many electrons must be lost by the element mg?

Answer 1

A noble gas electron configuration follows the octet rule in which the configuration is composed of electrons. the charge of a neutral atom is zero. meanwhile, a magnesium atom bears a + 2 charge which means in order to be stable, it has to gain two electrons to be stable.

Answer 2

Explanation:

It is known that metals are the species which easily lose an electron to acquire stability.

For example, atomic number of magnesium is 12 and its electronic distribution is 2, 8, 2.

Hence, in order to attain stability it will readily lose two electrons. As a result, it will form $Mg^{2+}$ ions.

Thus, we can conclude that 2 electrons must be lost by the element Mg.