An element forms an ionic compound with chlorine having the formulaXCl2. If the mass number of the ion is 41and it has 18electrons, what is the element andhow many neutrons does it have?

The element is calcium and it has a neutron number of 21

Explanation:

To solve this, first let us try to determine the number of electrons transferred by the element X. This can be achieved by writing a dissociation equation as shown below:

XCl2 X^2 + 2Cl^-

From the above, it is very clear that the element X transferred 2 electrons to Cl to form XCl2.

From the question we were told that the ion of the element (X^2+) has:

Electron = 18

Mass number = 41

Since the element X gave 2 electrons, it means the proton number of element X = 2+18 = 20

Therefore, the element is calcium.

Now we can calculate the Neutron number:

Number number = Mass number - Proton

= 41 - 20 = 21