Is MgO Ionic Or Covalent: Why, How, Lewis structure, Detailed Explanations

In this article, “is MgO ionic or covalent”, covalent or ionic properties of magnesium oxide with detailed explanations are discussed briefly.

Magnesium oxide (MgO) is a solid white odorless ionic substance formed by the reaction between magnesium and oxygen with a molar mass 40.344 gm/mol and density 3.6g/cm³ by completely transferring of two electrons. It forms Magnesium hydroxide in presence of water. MgO has high melting and boiling point, 2852⁰C and 3600⁰C respectively.

Some evidences to prove that MgO is ionic are shown below in this article.

What is covalent and ionic compound?

Covalency in any compound arises due to sharing of electron cloud between two consisting atoms and ionic behaviour arises due to complete transferring of electrons.

In a covalent compound electron cloud is shifted to comparatively more electronegative atom but not completely transferred from one atom to another one. But shifting of electron cloud depends upon the corresponding electronegativity of the participating atoms. Bonding electrons are shifted more towards the more electronegative atom.

In ionic species, electrons are completely donated by the more electropositive atom to the more electronegative atom due to difference of electronegativity.

To know more please check: 10 Ionic Bond Examples: Explanation And Detailed Facts

How is MgO ionic?

MgO is definitely an ionic compound. The difference in  electronegativity between magnesium and oxygen is relatively high than any two atoms in covalent compound. Mg is basically an electropositive alkaline earth metal and oxygen is one of the most electronegative (next to fluorine) molecular species.

Mg has atomic number 12 (1s² 2s²2p⁶3s²) and has two electrons in its outer most electron shell (valance shell). It donates its two valance electrons to oxygen and achieves the nearest noble gas electronic configuration that is Neon (1s² 2s²2p⁶). After donating two electrons Mg becomes dipositive Mg²⁺, a stable closed shell configuration.

Oxygen has total eight electrons (1s² 2s² 2p⁴) and has four electrons in its valence shell. After accepting four electrons from Mg, oxygen becomes O^2- and gains the nearest noble gas electron configuration (1s² 2s² 2p⁶) and stability is increased.

% of Ionic character (I.C) can be calculated from the following formula-

% I.C =16 ( χ_A – χ_B) + 3.5 ( χ_A – χ_B)² .In this formula χ_A and χ_B are the electronegativity of species A and B respectively.

• % I.C = 16 (3.44-1.31) + 3.5 (3.44-1.31)²
• % I.C = 50

The electronegativity of Mg and oxygen is 1.31 and 3.44 in pauling scale respectively. This high value of percentage of ionic character indicates that the magnesium oxide cannot be a covalent compound.

To know more please follow: 15 Coordinate Covalent Bond Examples: Detailed Insight And Facts

Why MgO is not a covalent compound?

In magnesium oxide two electrons from magnesium is completely transferred to the valence shell of oxygen and make the octet filled up. Mg becomes Mg²⁺ after donating two electrons to oxygen. But in covalent compound, electron cloud is shifted from less electronegative atom to more electronegative atom but not completely transferred.

Difference of electronegativity between magnesium and oxygen is (3.44-1.31) = 2.13 in Pauling scale. This difference in electronegativity indicates that MgO cannot be a covalent compound. Besides that, due to +2 and -2 charge on Mg and O, MgO has greater amount of lattice energy.

To know more please check: 4 Single Covalent Bond Examples : Detailed Insights And Facts

MgO Lewis Structure

Lewis structure is invented by Gilbert N. Lewis in 1916 in his article named as “The atom and the molecule”. Lewis structure is basically the simplified representation of valance shell electrons around the respective atoms. The number of dots around any atom indicates the number of valance electrons.

Lewis dot structure is applied to illustrate the formation of cation or anion by donating or accepting the electrons. But it should be kept in mind that lewis dot structure of any molecule cannot detect the geometry or shape of that molecule. Though this representation is used to make sure that the respective atoms in that molecule satisfy the octet rule or not and formal charge of each of the atoms can also be determined from lewis structure.

In the above image, lewis dot structure of water is shown. Outer most shell electrons of oxygen are shown around oxygen atoms.

In the lewis structure of MgO, Mg has two valance shell electrons and oxygen has six valance shell electrons. Mg donates its two valance electrons to make the electron configuration 2,8 and oxygen accepts those two electrons and gains the configuration 2,8,8. The valance electrons and the transferred electrons are shown in the following lewis dot structure image of MgO.

 To know more please go through: 5 Polar Covalent Bond Examples: Detailed Insights And Facts

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How MgO is formed?

Answer:  Magnesium reacts with oxygen and form the whitish powdered compound, MgO through an exothermic reaction and produce a large amount of energy in form of light.

What happens when MgO reacts with water?

Answer: When MgO comes in contact with water, magnesium hydroxide [Mg(OH)₂] is formed through a reversible reaction. MgO + H₂O → Mg(OH)₂

Why MgO is not soluble in water?

Answer: MgO has a huge amount of lattice energy due to strong ionic interaction between Mg²⁺ and O^2-. Hydration energy or solvation energy cannot exceed the strong lattice energy. Thus, MgO is not soluble in water.