The Fruity Pebbles Ionic Bonding activity was an exercise in the use of Lewis Structures to visualize ionic bonds. A Lewis Structure is a diagram depicting the valence electrons of a given atom; it involves a square inside of which the element's symbol is written, and the electrons are arranged at dots around the outside. We created our Lewis Structures by writing the symbols of the elements involved in each bond and arranging Fruity Pebbles around them. We were then able to move the Fruity Pebbles from diagram to diagram, documenting the movements as we went and creating a representation of ionic bonding.
There were six bonds that we made: Potassium Fluoride (KF), Magnesium Iodide (MgI2), Sodium Oxide (Na2O), Sodium Chloride (NaCl), Calcium Chloride (CaCl2), and Aluminum Chloride (AlCl3). In the first bond, Potassium lost one electron to Fluorine, which gained one. In the second, Magnesium gave away two electrons, one to each Iodine atom, and in the third, each Sodium atom gave one electron to the Oxygen atom. In the fourth bond, the Sodium atom gave one atom to the Chlorine atom, and in the fifth, Calcium gave away two electrons, one to each Chlorine atom. Finally, in the sixth bond, Aluminum gave away three electrons, one to each Chlorine atom.
There were six bonds that we made: Potassium Fluoride (KF), Magnesium Iodide (MgI2), Sodium Oxide (Na2O), Sodium Chloride (NaCl), Calcium Chloride (CaCl2), and Aluminum Chloride (AlCl3). In the first bond, Potassium lost one electron to Fluorine, which gained one. In the second, Magnesium gave away two electrons, one to each Iodine atom, and in the third, each Sodium atom gave one electron to the Oxygen atom. In the fourth bond, the Sodium atom gave one atom to the Chlorine atom, and in the fifth, Calcium gave away two electrons, one to each Chlorine atom. Finally, in the sixth bond, Aluminum gave away three electrons, one to each Chlorine atom.