The most commonly formed cations of the representative elements are those that involve the loss of all of the valence electrons. The electron configuration of the sodium ion is now the same as that of...The most commonly formed cations of the representative elements are those that involve the loss of all of the valence electrons. The electron configuration of the sodium ion is now the same as that of the noble gas neon. The Mg2+ ion, the Al3+ ion, the Na+ ion, and the ceNe atom are all isoelectronic. The resulting cation has the electron configuration of the noble gas atom in the row above it in the periodic table.
