Come friends today we will know about K2O Ionic or Covalent. In this article the reasons behind treating K2O i.e. potassium oxide as an ionic compound (K2O ionic) will be described by explaining the chemistry behind it. This article will describe how K2O ionic will be defined by describing the facts of ionic properties.
It is very important to understand the facts about K2O and its ionic properties with proper explanation chemically.
How is K2O ionic?
K2O is a completely ionic compound as it follows all the principles of being ionic. Potassium does not exist as an atom because it is highly reactive in nature. It exists as K2.
The K2 molecule undergoes an electron donating process and the oxygen adopts those electrons and forms a bond with the potassium. To complete the octet state oxygen tends to have 2 electrons in its final cell (which gives stability as a near noble gas) so it takes up the free electrons transferred by each of the K atoms in K2. Each K atom donates one electron.
Each potassium atom also chooses to form the near noble gas in the periodic table to obtain the same stable electronic configuration and complete the octet state.
K2 is a metal and it transfers electrons to the nonmetal oxygen. Therefore, it has been proved that K2O is ionic in nature.
Before explaining why K2O is ionic, it would be reliable to describe the principles that ionic compounds have in chemistry. This would lead to fundamental verification of the reason why K2O is ionic.
The principles of ionic compounds are given below: :
- Ionic compounds are made up of bonds between metals and nonmetals
- These compounds are formed by the complete transfer of electrons from one atom to another atom of different elements.
- Ionic bonds are stronger and give rigid structures to ionic compounds
- In ionic compounds a strong electrostatic force acts between the atoms
- These compounds exist only in the solid state
- These compounds have very high melting and boiling points respectively.
- These are soluble in polar solvents such as water and ionize because free ions are present in them.
- In ionic compounds, free ions move from one place to another and conduct electricity in the molten state.
K2O has been recognized to possess all of the above principles. Hence it is completely considered as an ionic compound.
Comparing the chemical properties of ionic compounds with those of K2O would be effective in representing how ionic K2O is. K2O is usually found in the solid state (pale yellow in colour) and conducts electricity by dissolving in a polar solvent such as water.
Potassium oxide has a very high melting point. It is around 740 °C and it begins to decompose at a temperature of 300 °C . However, these explanations may be sufficient to confirm that K2O is an ionic compound.
Is K2O ionic and a binary compound?
Binary ionic compounds consist of a metal and a non-metal and the mane of the metal comes first and is followed by the name of the non-metal with “ide” in the nomenclature.
This principle is underpinned by K2O. Potassium and oxygen combine and they are named potassium oxide in chemistry. Therefore, it has been completely proved that K2O is a binary compound.
Since K2O contains only two different elements; This is called a binary compound. The crystalline structure of K2O is ionic so it falls under the criterion of binary ionic compounds.
Is K2O molecular, ionic or atomic?
K2O is not considered to be molecular or atomic. A fully justified explanation exists in chemistry for K2O to be ionic.
K2O is judged solely as an ionic compound. The entire part of the election takes place in this premises. Two potassium atoms give up two electrons from their last cell and gain positively charged ions which are K. is + .
Oxygen takes up those electrons and becomes negatively charged as well. Thus the oxygen molecule also becomes ionic. Therefore, ionic bonds are formed between potassium and oxygen and the atoms are present in the ionized state.
In the case of forming a molecular compound, the atoms must share one or more electrons with each other. They cannot permanently distribute electrons and molecular compounds have no ionized state. Therefore, K2O is not molecular.
When the actual number of atoms in a compound is bonded to each other and is reflected on the formula of the compound, the compound is called a molecular compound . The actual number of atoms cannot be identified by the formula K2O. Therefore, K2O is also not a molecular compound.
FAQ K2O Ionic or Covalent
Define binary compound. Give any example other than K2O.
Answer: The compounds which are formed by the combination of two completely different elements are called binary compounds. For example, calcium oxide, CaO, is a binary compound because it is a combination of calcium metal and oxygen nonmetal.
What is the reason behind the elements to transfer electrons and form ionic bonds?
Answer: The main reason for the element to transfer electrons is to fulfill the octet state so that they can have an electronic configuration closely resembling the noble gas found in the periodic table.
What are the main properties of molecular compounds?
Answer: Molecular compounds are found by their chemical formula to show the exact number of atoms they hold on their molecular bonds.
In which state K2O is found in nature? Does it conduct electricity? explain how.
Answer: K2O is found in nature in solid state. It can conduct electricity in a molten state that is being ionized in polar solvents such as water.
What is the valency of potassium and oxygen? How many electrons do they need to adopt the octet state?
Answer: The valency of potassium is 1 and that of oxygen is 6. This means that potassium needs 1 more electron to gain an octet. Oxygen has 6 electrons in the last cell and 2 more electrons are needed to get the octet.
