Remember: the number of electrons in a cation has gone down, resulting in a positive charge. The word ion comes from the Greek ión, meaning “going,” and was introduced by English physicist and chemist Michael Faraday in the 1830s. The an- in anion is a form of ana-, meaning “up” (it’s the same root used in anode). Cation comes from the Greek katión, meaning “going down,” and anion comes from the Greek aniṓn, “going up.” The cat- in cation is a form of cata-, meaning “down” (it’s the same root used in cathode and catalyst). The first records of the words cation and anion in English come from around the 1830s. Where do the words cation and anion come from? For example, the symbols Na+ and Ca++ indicate cations, while Cl- indicates an anion.
#Negatively charged ion plus
In chemistry, cations are indicated with a plus sign (+) and anions are indicated with a minus sign (-), with the number of symbols indicating the number of electrons lost or gained (this is called an atom’s valence). Anions are attracted to a positively-charged electrode called an anode. During electrolysis, the positively charged cations are attracted to a negatively-charged electrode called a cathode. One example is in the process of electrolysis, which involves an electric current passing through a material and producing a chemical reaction. But this difference in charge has an impact on how cations and anions behave and react. The difference between cations and anions is, of course, their charge. What is the difference between cations and anions? You won’t have any negative feelings for this discussion on the differences between commonly confused hormones like serotonin and dopamine. Anions are formed when an atom gains one or more electrons: the gain of the negatively-charged electron(s) results in an overall negative charge. What is an anion?Īn anion is an ion with negative charge, meaning it has more electrons than protons. Cations are formed when an atom loses one or more electrons: the loss of the negatively-charged electron(s) results in an overall positive charge. What is a cation?Ī cation is an ion with positive charge, which means it has more protons (positively-charged particles) than electrons (negatively-charged particles). Cations are also called positive ions, and anions are also called negative ions. Anions are negatively-charged ions (meaning they have more electrons than protons due to having gained one or more electrons). ⚡️ Quick summaryĬations are positively-charged ions (atoms or groups of atoms that have more protons than electrons due to having lost one or more electrons). We use the word ion to refer to atoms that have a charge one way or another, and we use the words cation and anion to specify whether the charge is positive or negative. An atom becomes negatively charged if it gains extra electrons, and it becomes positively charged if it loses electrons. In an ordinary atom, the number of protons equals the number of electrons, so the atom normally has no electric charge one way or the other. The protons in an atom have a positive charge, the electrons have a negative charge, and the neutrons have zero charge. Electric charge is a basic property of elementary particles of matter ( protons, electrons, and neutrons). Anions have a negative charge, and cations have a positive charge.īefore we talk about what exactly that means (and why it matters), let’s talk about what we mean by charge. The difference is in the electrical charge. But seriously: anions and cations are both ions. A cation is a type of ion for cats (OK, fine, that’s not true, but it is pronounced ). An anion, pronounced, is a type of ion-an electrically charged atom or group of atoms.
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