To determine the correct chemical formula for magnesium perchlorate, we need to balance the charges of the magnesium ion and the perchlorate ion.
1. Identify the charges of the ions:
- Magnesium ion (Mg) has a charge of [tex]\(+2\)[/tex].
- Perchlorate ion ([tex]\(ClO_4\)[/tex]) has a charge of [tex]\(-1\)[/tex].
2. Balance the total charges:
- For the compound to be electrically neutral, the total positive charge must balance the total negative charge.
- Since magnesium has a charge of [tex]\(+2\)[/tex], and each perchlorate ion has a charge of [tex]\(-1\)[/tex], we need two perchlorate ions to balance one magnesium ion, because [tex]\(+2\)[/tex] from one magnesium ion balances with [tex]\(2 \times -1\)[/tex] from two perchlorate ions.
3. Write the formula:
- Place the magnesium ion at the beginning.
- As we need two perchlorate ions, place them in parentheses with a subscript 2 to indicate that there are two of these ions.
Thus, the balanced chemical formula for magnesium perchlorate is:
[tex]\[ \text{Mg}(ClO_4)_2 \][/tex]
So, the correct answer is:
D. [tex]\( \text{Mg}\left(ClO_4\right)_2 \)[/tex]
