What ion of barium is most stable?

1 Answer
Jan 7, 2017

Barium has 2 valence electrons, so.........

Explanation:

So upon oxidation it commonly forms a Ba2+ ion:

BaBa2++2e

So how do you know this? Well, you will always have access to a Periodic Table, and the Group Number, the vertical column in which the metal lies is Group 2. The 2 tells me there are 2 valence electrons, whose loss gives the Ba2+ ion.