A sodium ion, Na+, has a positive charge because it
has lost one electron.
A sodium ion, Na+, has a positive charge because it has lost an electron.
Explanation: A sodium atom normally has 11 electrons and is neutral because the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons in the nucleus. However, when a sodium atom undergoes ionization, it can lose one electron, leaving it with 10 electrons. Since the number of protons (11) is now greater than the number of electrons (10), the sodium ion becomes positively charged.
A sodium ion, Na+, has a positive charge because it has lost one electron.
To understand why a sodium ion has a positive charge, we need to look at the electronic structure of a sodium atom. A neutral sodium atom has an atomic number of 11, which means it has 11 protons and 11 electrons. The electrons in an atom are arranged in different energy levels or shells, with the innermost shell being filled first and the outermost shell being the valence shell.
In the case of a sodium atom, the first two energy levels (K and L shells) are full with 2 and 8 electrons respectively. The valence shell, however, only contains one electron. In order to achieve a stable electronic configuration, atoms tend to gain or lose electrons to fill their valence shell.
Sodium has a tendency to lose its valence electron because it requires less energy to do so than to gain 7 more electrons to complete its valence shell. When sodium loses this electron, it forms a sodium ion with a positive charge, Na+.
So, to summarize, a sodium ion, Na+, has a positive charge because it has lost one electron from its valence shell to achieve a stable electronic configuration.