How is Ag2O Bonded?

Question

I know that H2O is bonded because O has 6 electrons on the last shell.. and the H2 has 2 electrons to share with O giving it 6 and H getting 2.

However, when I think about Ag2O I don't see how the shells can be filled.

Can any one explain this (without using valence electrons and the dot diagram thing?)

...I'm trying to find out how you know this is a stable compound. like ... how is Ag and O becoming stable from one another.. how many electrons are being given, shared, or taken in.. and by which element?

Answer 1

I think the big difference between Ag2O and H2O is that water is molecular and held together by covalent bonds. Ag2O is an ionic compound, held together by ionic bonds. You don't generally draw Lewis structures for ionic compounds like you do for molecular compounds. The important thing in ionic compounds is the charges of the ions.

Silver ions have +1 charges...oxide ions have -2 charges. Using your terminology, the 2 silver atoms are each giving an electron to the oxygen atom.

It's probably easier for you to see how this benefits oxygen, since when you add two electrons to an oxygen atom it completes oxygen's octet. An oxide ion has the same electron configuration as the noble gas, neon.

What you're probably confused about is how this benefits the silver atoms. The important thing to realize is that not all stable ions have the same electron configuration as a noble gas. In general, transition metals such as silver don't satisfy the octet rule like the main group elements generally do.

Answer 2

Which shells do you want to fill? Only the outer energy valence shells need to be considered. In the case of transition metals (silver is one) the inner shells may or may not fill in the noormal sequence, but this is not relevant for the chemistry, only the characteristics of the given element.