What is the charge on Na and why is it called a cation?
2 answers:
You might be interested in
Answer:
Explanation:
To answer this question successfully, we need to remember that atoms are neutral species, since the number of protons, the positively charged particles, is equal to the number of electrons, the negatively charged particles. That said, we may firstly find an atom which has 3 electrons (and, as a result, 3 protons, as it should be neutral).
The number of protons is equal to the atomic number of an element. We firstly may have an atom with 3 protons and 3 electrons (atomic number of 3, this is Li).
Similarly, we may take the atomic number of 4, beryllium, and remove 1 electron from it. Upon removing an electron, it would become beryllium cation, .
We may use the same logic going forward and taking the atomic number of 5. This is boron. In this case, we need to remove 2 electrons to have a total of 3 electrons. Removal of 2 electrons would yield a +2-charged cation: .