Ionic bond is described as the chemical bond between two oppositely charged ions. In ionic bond the metal loses electron forming a positively charged cation and a non metal which accept the cation to form a negatively charged anion. In ionic bond the atoms are held together by electrostatic force of attraction. In ionic bond the anions and cations are present in the ratio where the total charge of the compound becomes zero. For example, Let us consider NaCl compound. An atom of the sodium has three electrons in its valency shell and the electrons are removed from the outer most shell by applying the energy of 5.14 electron volts. The chlorine atom lacks an electron to attain stable electronic configuration and it accepts the electron from the sodium by releasing 3.62 electron volts of energy which means that it takes only 1.52 electron volts of energy to donate an electron to chlorine when both the atoms are far apart. When these electrons are brought together their electric potential becomes more negative. This means that if the neutral sodium and chlorine atoms are found themselves closer it would be energetically favourable to transfer electrons from sodium to chlorine thus resulting in the formation of the ionic bond.
The answer is motion, this is what I would go with because when you are dealing with gases it puts motion in the term of particles.
The ion with a +3 charge would be deflected the most by the magnet because it has the strongest positive charge therefore it will be the one being the most repelled. and the ion that would be deflected the least would be the ion with a +1 charge because it has the least amount of charge so the magnet will still repel it but just not as much as it will repel the ion with a +3 charge.
hope that helps
