Answer:
Option B. Cation that is smaller than the original atom.
Explanation:
Magnesium is a divalent element. This implies that magnesium can give up 2 electrons to become an ion (cation) as shown below:
Mg —> Mg²⁺ + 2e¯
Next, we shall write the electronic configuration of magnesium atom (Mg) and magnesium ion (Mg²⁺). This can be written as follow:
Mg (12) = 2, 8, 2
Mg²⁺ (10) = 2, 8
From the above illustration, we can see that the magnesium atom (Mg) has 3 shells while the magnesium ion (Mg²⁺) has 2 shells.
This simply means that the magnesium ion (Mg²⁺) i.e cation is smaller that the original magnesium atom (Mg).
