Question

How do you write the formula for zinc acetate?

Answer 1

Zinc acetate is an ionic compound. The easiest way to learn to write such a formula is to learn to write the formula of the cation first, and then the formula for the anion, then crisscross their charges.

Explanation:

The bond that forms zinc acetate is ionic. Zinc forms 2+ cations, with the formula $Z{n}^{2+}$ and acetate is a polyatomic anion with the formula $C{H}_{3}CO{O}^{-}$.

Since the compound needs to be neutral, the total positive charge must equal the total negative charge, so the formula for zinc acetate requires one $Z{n}^{2+}$ and two $C_2{H}_3{O}_2^{-}$ ions.

The formula is then $Zn(C_2{H}_3{O}_2{)}_2$.

The formula for the acetate ion is placed in parentheses with a subscript of 2, indicating that two acetate ions with a 1- charge are required to bond with one zinc ion with a 2+ charge.

Now the total positive charge is 2+ and the total negative charge is 2-, giving an overall charge of zero for the zinc acetate compound.