Cation vs Anion

[Ruby 1l]

How do cations and Anions work? Do cations pull the electron cloud from anions towards them? What does this do? Also what's a halide and does this relate to cations/anions or is this simply from the example he used in class?

[Naya Fullerton 2L]

Hi,

In an ionic bond, there is more or less a complete transfer of an ion from one atom (the cation) to another atom (the anion). The cation becomes more stable by giving away an electron through the ionic bond (resulting in a positive charge) and the anion becomes more stable by receiving the electron (resulting in a negative charge). However, as that occurs, the cation can distort the electron cloud with all the other electrons of the anion due to the attraction between the cation's positive charge and the anion's electrons. The main reason that we discuss electron cloud distortion in ionic bonds is because when there is a greater distortion, the electrons are pulled into the bonding space of the cation and anion, making it more similar to a covalent bond.
Halides refer to ions or ionic compounds composed of a Group 17 element (known as halogens) and another element. They are an example of an ionic compound. When the other element is hydrogen, they are known as hydrogen halides: HF, HCl, HBr, etc.