Calcium chlorate has the formula Ca(ClO3)2. Which best describes the structure of calcium chlorate? One molecule of calcium chlorate contains nine atoms. Calcium chlorate is an element that contains three atoms. It takes nine different elements to make one molecule of calcium chlorate. Calcium chlorate contains two Ca groups.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The correct description of calcium chlorate is that “one molecule of calcium chlorate contains nine atoms.” This is because the formula of calcium chlorate is Ca(ClO₃)₂, which consists of the following components:
- Ca (Calcium): The formula indicates one calcium atom (Ca) in the molecule.
- ClO₃ (Chlorate): The chlorate ion (ClO₃⁻) is made up of one chlorine atom (Cl) and three oxygen atoms (O). The subscript “2” in the formula indicates there are two chlorate ions in each molecule of calcium chlorate.
To summarize, the structure of calcium chlorate includes:
- 1 calcium (Ca) atom
- 2 chlorate (ClO₃) ions, each containing 1 chlorine (Cl) atom and 3 oxygen (O) atoms
If you count the atoms:
- 1 calcium atom
- 2 chlorine atoms (1 from each chlorate ion)
- 6 oxygen atoms (3 from each chlorate ion)
This gives a total of 9 atoms in one molecule of calcium chlorate.
Therefore, the correct option is that one molecule of calcium chlorate contains nine atoms. The other options are not accurate descriptions of the structure:
- Calcium chlorate is an element: This is incorrect because calcium chlorate is a compound, not an element.
- It takes nine different elements to make one molecule of calcium chlorate: This is incorrect because calcium chlorate is made of only three elements: calcium, chlorine, and oxygen.
- Calcium chlorate contains two Ca groups: This is misleading. There is only one calcium atom in calcium chlorate.
Thus, calcium chlorate is a compound made of 9 atoms in total, including calcium, chlorine, and oxygen.
