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Any time there is an imbalance of charges in an atom, that is, if the number of protons in its nucleus doesn't match the number of electrons in orbit around it, then that atom has an overall charge, and it is an ion. Note that ions can be positively or negatively charged, and the charges will (naturally) be integers, as charges here go up or down by or in increments of one electron. To convert a neutral atom into an ion, you'll either give it one or more electrons, or take one or more electrons from it. It will then have an overall charge of -1, -2, -3, etc., or +1, +2, +3, etc., respectively. energy is required (heat of sublimation and ionization potential), to remove the electrons from atoms and in most of the cases energy is released (dissociation energy which is absorbed and electron affinity which is released) when electron is absorbed in an atom.

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What conclusions can we make about the size of cations neutral atoms and anions?

Cations are smaller then neutral atoms and anions are larger.


What type of atom do cations represent?

Cations are neutral atoms that have lost an electron or electron(s). They are positively charged. They are generally metals.


Where do cations move?

Cations are positively charged ions that are attracted to the cathode (negative electrode) during electrolysis or in an electrical field. These ions move towards the cathode where they gain electrons to become neutral atoms.


Cations are formed by?

Cations are formed by atoms losing electrons, resulting in a positively charged ion. This occurs when atoms from metals and certain nonmetals give up electrons to achieve a stable electron configuration. The loss of electrons creates a deficiency of negative charge, leading to a positive charge on the cation.


Cations are formed when neutral atoms lose?

Cations are formed when neutral atoms lose electrons, leading to a positive charge. This loss of electrons results in a higher number of protons compared to electrons in the atom, creating an overall positive charge.


What is the charge of each atom before and after forming ionic bond?

Before the forming of the bond atoms are neutral; after the forming of the bond atoms become cations or anions.


What is the charge of each atom before forming the ionic bond?

Before the forming of the bond atoms are neutral; after the forming of the bond atoms become cations or anions.


What is the different and what is the same between an atom and an element?

Atom is neutral while cation is positively charged so cations have less electrons than corresponding atoms, another difference is that cations are always smaller in size as compare to their respective atoms.


What happened when you change a neutral atom into a positive charged atom?

Positively charged cations are formed when atoms lose the valence electrons.


Where is the excess copper from after adding zinc to copper sulfate?

The "excess" metallic copper produced by adding zinc metal to a copper sulfate solution comes from exchanging zinc atoms from the metal for copper atoms from the copper sulfate solution. During the reaction, the zinc atoms are ionized to cations and the copper cations from the solution are reduced to neutral atoms.


What is the sum of charges of all cations and anions?

In a neutral compound, the sum of charges of all cations and anions will be zero. This is because cations have a positive charge and anions have a negative charge, and in a neutral compound, these charges will balance out.


Are all atoms neutral?

Can atoms become neutral and howAtoms are already neutral because they have both protons which are positive charged and electrons which are negatively charged. it has to be nueral because of the the same number of both negative and positive particles.