Unit 1 B.9, B.10, B.11, B. 12, B. 13

We learned that ionic compounds are made of positive and negative ions.  They have no charge, or are neutral, because the positive and negative charges cancel each other out.  Ions are electrically charged atoms or groups of atoms.  To have a positive or negative charge, atoms must lose or  gain an electron respectively.  How receptive an atoms is to losing or gaining and electron is a periodic property.  A positively charged ion is a cation and a negatively charged ion is called and anion.  Some ions are called polyatomic ions.  This means that they are a group of bonded atoms with an electrical charge.  On the other hand, monatomic ions have one atom.