The obvious part of the answer is: "because it loses one electron". Why it loses an electron is what I will explain.
Solid sodium, properly protected from air and moist, or sodium dissolved in some solvents, appears in a neutral Na2 form, but sodium has a single electron in its valence orbital, and that tips the way it works. In water, the scenario changes. Liquid water has OH- and H30+ ions besides the common H2O molecule. H2O and H3O+ [I'm not sure these are both the right molecules] can create stronger bonds, with an electron, than sodium, because that electron will occupy a lower energy orbital; the lowest, actually, the one present in hydrogen. [I can't remember the formula for the reaction and it has been too long for me to know how to write it. Could someone do it?]
You might say that the electron is attracted to the positively charged ion or the polarized molecule, more than it is attracted to sodium, resulting in the loss of an electron from Na, and transforming it into Na+.
If an extremely thorough description is necessary, and ignoring the attraction idea, this is what someone would say to be (almost) absolutely detailed:
A physical system always tends towards the state of least energy and, the position of the electron, in the hydrogen atom, has lower energy than the one in the sodium atom. Bonds between electrons and nuclei are described by quantum physics. The electrons in an orbital are not "in" the orbital, they simply have a higher probability of Manifesting in that orbital: an orbital is a distribution of probabilities; it is nothing like an orbit. The presence of positive ions, or polarized molecules, increases the probability of an electron revealing itself closer to those structures; it reshapes the orbital. Even if this was not the case, there is always the probability that one of the valence electron manifests itself close enough to another molecule, to be captured by the nucleus of one of its atoms. Since that is the state of minimum energy, the electron will have higher probability of staying there. The transference of electrons in the other way also happens but, because the first is more probable than the second, the net result will be that, for all purposes, sodium appears as the Na- ion in water.
The sodium ion loss only one electron.
Sodium is in group one, chlorine in group 7. This means that a Sodium ion has a charge of +1, and a Chlorine ion has a charge of -1.
A sodium atom has a net charge of zero. A sodium ion has a net charge of 1+.
Sodium ions have a +1 charge, whereas calcium ions have a 2+ charge.
Sodium loans out an electron to become an ion. That leaves it with an overall charge of +1. It is written as Na+1 or just Na+.
It would be unethical to use this service to answer exam or graded questions. CaCl2 + 2NaOH --> 2NaCl + Ca(OH)2 Calcium Chloride + Sodium Hydroxide --> Sodium Chloride + Calcium Hydroxide Why: Ca ion has 2+ charge Cl ion has 1- charge Na ion has 1+ charge OH polyatomic ion has 1- charge
Simply: YES
Sodium ions have a charge of 1+
The monoatomic sodium ion would have a valence of 1 and a charge of +1.
The charge of a sodium ion is +1.
The charge of a positive sodium ion is +1 C.
Sodium is in group one, chlorine in group 7. This means that a Sodium ion has a charge of +1, and a Chlorine ion has a charge of -1.
The sodium atom is much bigger than a sodium cation with a plus 1 charge, because the "lost" electron of the ion had a higher principal quantum number than any remaining electron in the ion and therefore was distributed through a larger volume of space than any of the remaining electrons.
Yes, Na (Sodium) has a "POSITIVE" Charge of +1.
A sodium ion always has a +1 charge
It becomes what is known as a monovalent cation, meaning it has a positive charge of plus one.
Sodium, Na, is a group 1 element and generally holds a +1 charge.
A sodium ion would have a charge on it, such as a positive charge, a cation, or a negative charge, an anion. Take your charge to be Na+1. This means that sodium is missing one electron, thus having one more proton giving it a positive charge. Na normally has 11 electrons, but this plus one knocks it down to 10. Neon at a neutral charge has 10 electrons. So, a sodium ion and neon atom have the same number of electrons (but only if the Na ion is +1 charge).