What's the formula for Silicon (IV) Oxide?

Question

Please show steps.

Answer 1

you have to find the oxidation states for each element first and you've already found the one for silicon (= 4).  if u look for oxygen on teh table, the oxidation state is 2.

so first from silicon IV oxide, write it out

= S402

then you criss cross the numbers (drop all negative and positive signs)

= S204

answer = S204

this is how my teacher taught us, criss cross

lol idk if it helped

Answer 2

The other answerer has the wrong symbol for silicon (Si) and the wrong formula.

He is correct in how to start: we know that the Si has an oxidation state of +4.  Looking at the periodic table, we can see that by gaining 2 electrons, oxygen can attain a stable noble gas configuration (all shells filled), so it will tend to form 2- ions.  Alternatively, you could look up the definition of oxide: this term only refers to O 2- ions.

We want the formula to have a net charge of 0.  For simplicity, we assume that there is only 1 atom of Si.  This has a charge of +4, so we need 2 oxides to balance this charge.  The formula is SiO2.