Astudent balanced the chemical equation for the reaction of magnesium with oxygen by writing mg + o2 ? mgo2. what is wrong with this equation?

There must be an additional Mg atom.

Explanation:

The valence of Mg is +2 which means it can give two electrons to any other element thereby forming chemical bond. For this, there is requirement of an element which has valence of -2 or an element which has a deficiency of 2 electron to reach stable state. Oxygen has a valency of -2 which means it can take two electrons from a donor element such as Mg.

In a balanced equation the number of electrons/atom/molecule/ion/radicals

on the right and left side of equation must be equal.

So the balanced equation between Mg and O will be -

cells spend most of their time in interphase