A ball-and-stick model represents part of a magnesium oxide lattice. A student concludes from the sticks that each Mg2+\mathrm{Mg^{2+}}Mg2+ ion is bonded to just one particular O2−\mathrm{O^{2-}}O2− ion.
Which statement explains why the student is wrong?
The sticks are shared pairs of electrons, so magnesium oxide is made of atoms rather than ions.
Each Mg2+\mathrm{Mg^{2+}}Mg2+ ion is bonded to two O2−\mathrm{O^{2-}}O2− ions, because each magnesium atom loses two electrons.
Each ion is attracted to the electrons in the sticks rather than to any oppositely charged ion.
The ions attract in all directions, so each ion is attracted to all the oppositely charged ions around it.
122 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Chemistry 2.2 Bonding, covering 2.2.1 Metals, non-metals and the Periodic Table, 2.2.2 Types of chemical bonding and dot and cross diagrams, 2.2.3 Limitations of bonding models, and 2.2.4 Reactivity, atomic number and the modern Periodic Table. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.