Question

What is the net charge of the ionic compound calcium fluoride?

Answer 1

The chemical formula for Calcium Fluoride is $Ca{F_2}$ . Calcium ion is $C{a^{2 + }}$ . Fluoride ion is ${F^ - }$ . Now, all we need is to calculate the charge on this ionic compound, since we know its chemical formula and ions it’s been composed of.

Complete step by step answer
Ionic compounds are composed of ions held together by strong electrostatic forces. Although, the ionic compounds consist of positively charged ions called cations and the negatively charged ions called anions, yet the ionic compounds are always neutral.
In this question one positively charged ion $C{a^{2 + }}$ combines with two negatively charged ions ${F^ - }$ giving us a neutral compound with the formula $Ca{F_2}$ . In the reaction format,
$C{a^{2 + }} + 2{F^ - } \to Ca{F_2}$
So, the compound has zero charge on $Ca{F_2}$ .
Properties of this compound( $Ca{F_2}$ ) are:
It is used for its optical properties.
On the basis of its structure, it is sparingly soluble in water.
To check its solubility, we test it against acids. It is slightly soluble in acids, whereas it is insoluble in acetone.

Note
$Ca{F_2}$ , popularly called fluorite and Fluorspar has various uses in industry. It is an example of crystalline solids. In the crystal structure theory, it has cubic structure. It is usually seen as granules, flakes and white powder.