Ion

Did you know that an ion is an atom or molecule that has a net electrical charge? This is because the charge of an electron is negative and is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is positive. As a result, the net charge of an ion is not zero since its total number of electrons is different from its total number of protons. Cations are positively charged ions that have fewer electrons than protons, whereas anions are negatively charged ions that have more electrons than protons. Opposite electric charges attract each other by electrostatic force, so cations and anions readily form ionic compounds. Ions can be atomic or monatomic if they consist of only one atom, or molecular or polyatomic if they are made up of two or more atoms. In a fluid, such as gas or liquid, ion pairs are formed by spontaneous molecule collisions, where each generated pair consists of a free electron and a positive ion. Ions can also be created by chemical interactions, such as the dissolution of a salt in liquids, or by other means, such as passing a direct current through a conducting solution, dissolving an anode via ionization.

Characteristics

It's interesting to note that ions in their gas-like state are highly reactive and will readily interact with opposite-charged ions, resulting in either neutral molecules or ionic salts. Additionally, ions are produced in the liquid or solid state when salts interact with solvents, such as water, which leads to the creation of solvated ions. These stabilized species can be found in the environment at low temperatures, with the ions present in seawater being derived from dissolved salts. Ions are attracted to opposite electric charges while being repelled by like charges, and their trajectories can be deflected by a magnetic field. Anions are larger than the parent molecule or atom due to the excess electron(s) repelling each other and adding to the ion's physical size, while cations are smaller than the corresponding parent atom or molecule due to the smaller size of the electron cloud.

Natural occurrences

Ions are ubiquitous in nature and are responsible for diverse phenomena from the luminescence of the Sun to the existence of the Earth's ionosphere. Atoms in their ionic state may have a different colour from neutral atoms, and thus light absorption by metal ions gives the colour of gemstones. In both inorganic and organic chemistry (including biochemistry), the interaction of water and ions is extremely important; an example is energy that drives the breakdown of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).