Question

6. If an atom has 8 protons, 8 neutrons and 8 electrons and then loses an electron, what is it? What is its charge?

Answer 1

Answer: it is a cation (a positively charged ion). its charge is (+). It will have one positive charge.

Explanation: Ions are charged atoms. Ions can be positively charged or negatively charged. A positively charged ion is called a cation while a negatively charged ion is called an anion. Cation is formed when an atom loses one or more electrons while an anion is formed when an atom gains one or more electrons. Normally, an atom has no charge that is, it is neutral because an atom always have equal number of protons and electrons. Protons have positive charge while electrons have negative charge. For instance when atom which have 8 electrons and 8 protons loses one electron, it will then have 7 electrons and 8 protons, thereby making the atom to have a positive (+) charge.