CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

What's the difference between a cation and an anion? I'm having trouble differentiating the two.

A cation is an ion or group of ions (an atom or molecule) with a total positive charge, while an anion is one with a total negative charge.

Cations are atoms or molecules with a total positive charge (usually through losing electrons), while an anions are those with a total negative charge (usually through losing electrons).

Also cations are usually metals and anions are usually nonmetals

Overall, memorizing with some type of correlation or rhyme would probably help with remembering which name goes with which, like I find myself remembering how charges associate with metals or nonmetals but I just mix up the names

A cation is an atom that has lost an electron, therefore it is positive. An anion has gained an electron, making it positive. Atoms can lose or gain more than one electron.

How can an atom have the same properties when they lose an electron if different elements are separated with just a one-electron one proton difference.

Can anyone go into detail on exactly what the difference is between cations and anions? I am having difficulty differentiating the two.

A cation is an ion that has a positive charge because it gave away its electron, such as Na+. An anion is an ion that has a negative charge because it took an electron, such as Cl-. It might be helpful to memorize a mnemonic, like that an anion is (A) (N)egative (ION), and a CATion is PAWSitive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OxRB9ShoHw
This is a video with a general description of ions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTUnjPALX_U
This is another video that goes more in-depth with ions.

Hopefully these are helpful in determining the difference between the two!

Cations have lost an electron. Because there is now one more proton than electron, it has a positive charge. You can remember this by the t in cation because it's like a positive sign (+). An anion has gained an electron. Because it now has one more electron than proton, it has a negative charge.

An easy way to remember that a cation is positive is that there is a "t" in cation which looks like a plus sign (+)

Cations and anions have positive and negative charges respectively, but why do they have those charges? Imagine a neutral atom like Silver. In its zero-charge state it has 79 electrons and thus it must also have 79 protons to cancel those charges out so we end up with a net zero. If one electron is removed, then there is an imbalance between the positive and negative charges. In this case, with one fewer electron, the negative force would be weaker than the positive force, so the atom would have a charge of +1, because there is one proton without an electron to "cancel out" the charge. Since the charge is positive, it is a cation. The same logic applies to the formation of cations, only one electron would be added instead of removed for a net negative charge.