Analyze the properties of a sodium atom and a sodium ion. What are the differences in mass, stability, and reactivity that are caused due to the differences between the sodium atom and sodium ion?

Question

anonymous · Answer

We can simply say that they are different because Sodium atoms are electrically neutral and Sodium ions are electrically charged as well as they both have different number of electrons.

Sodium, an Alkali Metal from Group 1 of the periodic table, is the element with atomic number 11. That means it has 11 protons in its nucleus. A neutral atom of sodium will have 11 electrons around it. There will be a one-to-one correspondence between protons and electrons. An ion of sodium (or any other element) will have an unequal number of protons and electrons in it. That's the difference.