Question

I meet help understanding how to identify if an element it cation or anion

Answer 1

Let's talk about atoms, first.

You know about the ATOMIC NUMBER of elements, right?

The ATOMIC NUMBER tells us how many ELECTRONS, and how many PROTONS an atom has.

Atoms usually have the SAME NUMBER of protons, as they do electrons.

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An ION is an atom, or molecule, where the number of electrons is DIFFERENT from the number of protons.
They're special, in that way.

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Now, we need to know that ELECTRONS have a NEGATIVE charge.

There are two types of ions:

1. Cations
2. Anions

CATIONS has LESS electrons than protons,
so they have a POSITIVE charge.

ANIONS have MORE electrons than protons,
so they have a NEGATIVE charge.