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Sulfate consists of 1 S, and 4 O and so has a charge of 2-. You can see this directly from the Periodic Table by checking what group these atoms are in. Sulfur and Oxygen are both in the 6th group, meaning they both have 6 valence electrons. So (6 electrons * 5 atoms) = 30 electrons. If we follow the octet rule (each atom must have 8 valence electrons for a full octet), then we need 2 more electrons. Sodium, Na, is in the 1st group on the periodic table, and therefore has 1 valence electron. So we need 2 sodium atoms, giving us the formula:

Na2SO4

That is,

2 Na

1 S

4 O

It's important to remember that when atoms 'share' their electrons by bonding, that BOTH atoms 'see' the electrons as theirs, meaning that, for example, although you may have 14 electrons between 2 atoms, as long as there is a single bond between the atoms they will both have full octets.

For example: O2

:::O:O:::

where : = pair of electrons.

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14y ago

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