How does an ion differ from an atom?

Answer 1

an ion has either more or less electrons then a neutral atom. electrons have an electrical negative charge so if you have too many of them you get a negative ion like Cl- and if you have too few you get a positive ion like Na+

Answer 2

To find the difference between neutral atoms, ions, and isotopes one must utilize their knowledge of protons, electrons, and neutrons. Does the atom have more or less neutrons than it has on the Periodic Table? Are the atom's protons and electrons not equal? Or does the atom have the same amount of subatomic particles as on the periodic table? These questions are fundamental when finding out if the atom is either a neutral atom, ion, or isotope. The first question asked was 'does the atom have more or less neutrons?' The total number of neutrons with protons determine the mass of an element, the one type of atom. So, if the number of neutrons is altered the mass number will also change. This is how an isotope is formed. An example of this is when Oxygen has 7 neutrons instead of 8, creating Oxygen-15. The next question to asked was 'are the atom's protons, and electrons not equal?' The protons and electrons determine the charge. If there were to be less electrons, the negative subatomic particles, then the atom would be positive, Na+. An ion is a positive or negative charged atom where only the electrons are gained or lost. An example of this is Na (Sodium) losing two electrons creating Na2+. And, lastly, the final question asked was 'does the atom have the same amount of subatomic particles as on the periodic table?' If the all the subatomic particles are exactly the same as the ones on the periodic table then it has to be a neutral atom. It is neutral because the protons and electrons are equal and the Atomic Mass is whatever the number of neutrons is plus the number of protons.

Answer 3

An atom of an element has all its associated electrons in its shells (total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons). It is therefore electrically neutral.

An ion of that element is an atom where one or more of its electrons have been stripped away, or one or more electrons have been gained. It is therefore positively or negatively charged.

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Ions will have a charge either positive or negative depending on whether it lost or gained electrons and how many. When they lose electrons they will have a smaller atomic radius compared to parents and when they gain they will have a larger atomic radius.

Answer 4

An ion (cation or anion) is an atom that has gained or lost electrons in order to obtain a stable electron configuration.

Electrically speaking, no ion can have a neutral charge because this directly contradicts the definition of an ion.

Answer 5

An ion is an atom that has lost or gained electrons. Typically metals will lose electrons to become positively charged ions, called cations. Nonmetals tend to gain electrons and become negatively charged ions called anions.

Answer 6

An atom is typically in the "ground state" and has the same number of electrons as it has protons.

An ion is an atom that is in an "excited state" and has less or more electrons than it has protons.

Answer 7

an ion has an off number of electrons or neutrons which can make it negative or positive depending on the number of the electrons