Help:( I'm not so much interested in the answer to this as how to do itI'm not sure how you figure out what the most stable ion would be for aluminum.
You may be afraid of elevators, but they don't make Nursing Homes that don't have STAIRS as well, so you can't really use that as an excuse for not visiting your GrandmaIf you and your parents are really concerned about your Grandma and these people, I suggest you speak to someone in charge at the Nursing Home, and explain the situation to themAlternately, you could contact a Lawyer and have your grandma declared incompetent, and your parents will get Power of Attorney, and will be able to make decisions for her, and she won't be able to give any one anything or add them to her will, without your parents knowing about it.
Doesn't the place have stairs? Can't you use those? Seriously, if you are this concerned, try to get over your fear so you can see your grandma and tell her what is going onThis woman needs to get out of your grandma's life and has no place in the will unless she is familyGet your family together to tell herShe will be more likely to believe to if the rest of your family does.
Ever heard of this thing called the staircase? That's what people used to use before the invention of elevators to go from floor to floorNow stop being a pussy and get on the freaking elevator and go visit your damn grandmaMaybe if your family paid a little more attention to her, she wouldn't have to find company with John and Katie.
Okay, here's the scoop: Aluminum is in group IIIA on the periodic table of the elementsThat means it has three valence electronsIf you do the orbital shell filling method, it would be written as 1s2, 2s2, 1p6, 3s2, 2p1All atoms are attempting, in some manner, to reach an optimally stable electron configuration - one that resembles one of the noble gasesThat means that they'd need to either gain electrons or lose electrons to empty or fill shells to match a noble gasIn the case of Aluminum, the atom can either gain five electrons (which would give it an ionic charge of -5) to resemble Argon, or it can lose three electrons (giving it a charge of +3) to resemble NeonWhich do you think would be easier? Right, it will lose 3 electrons, so the Aluminum ion is Al+3The nitrate ion, (NO3)-, has an ionic charge of negative oneIf you do the Lewis dot structure of nitrate ion, you can see that it would need one more electron to form filled outer shells, and this is how it acheives the negative chargeThose electrons, in the case of the compound you are examining, would HAVE to come from the AluminumAluminum gives up three that go, one apiece, to the nitrate! Therefore, the salt Aluminum nitrate has the chemical formula Al(NO3)3 The previous poster mentioned the hydrated form of the compound, aluminum nitrate nonahydrateSounds a bit to me like a red herring - don't worry about the hydrated form unless the prof/teacher specifically asks for itHope this helps.
