How many titanium and oxygen ions are there in the rutile unit cell shown below?
A) 3 Ti 4+ and 4 O 2-
B) 3 Ti 4+ and 6 O 2-
C) 2 Ti 4+ and 4 O 2-
D) 2 Ti 4+ and 3 O 2-
E) 2 Ti 4+ and 6 O 2-

Question

How many titanium and oxygen ions are there in the rutile unit cell shown below? 
A) 3 Ti 4+ and 4 O 2- 
B) 3 Ti 4+ and 6 O 2- 
C) 2 Ti 4+ and 4 O 2- 
D) 2 Ti 4+ and 3 O 2- 
E) 2 Ti 4+ and 6 O 2-

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The rutile unit cell consists of 2 Ti ions and 2 O ions. Each Ti ion is coordinated to 6 O ions, and each O ion is coordinated to 3 Ti ions. Therefore, the chemical formula for rutile is TiO2. In the given options, only option C has the correct number of Ti and O ions in the formula. It has 2 Ti ions and 4 O ions, which is consistent with the formula TiO2.

How Many Titanium and Oxygen Ions Are There in the Rutile