Question

How do atoms differ from ions?

Answer 1

Take an atom and its ion of an element, then calculate the number of protons and electrons in both of them.
Atoms are the smallest indivisible basic unit of an element.

Complete answer:
In the question given it is asked to comment on the difference between the atoms and ions of an elements,
From the lower classes we are very familiar with the terms atoms and ions. To comment on the difference between the atoms and ions we should first know the concept of atoms and ions.
Atoms are the simplest basic unit of an element which is indivisible and the atoms consist of subatomic particles like electrons, protons and neutrons which accounts for the atomic number and atomic mass of the element.
An atom consists of a nucleus and various shells around the nucleus and electrons are placed in these shells which revolve around the nucleus and the nucleus accounts for the atomic mass of the element since in the nucleus the protons and neutrons are located.
Now let’s talk about ions and then we may differentiate between both for better clarity.
Ions are the charged species of the elements. The atom either loses or gains the electrons to become charged and these charged particles take part in the electrostatic bond formation or stay in the ionic bond formation by which the charges on the ions get nullified and form a neutral compound.
Now let’s see the difference between atom and ions:
-The difference in both the species is all about the number of protons and electrons present in the species.
-As we know that the atoms are neutral there is no charge on them hence the number of protons and electrons in an atom will be equal and if we take the case of an ion, they losses the electrons and gain a positive charge whereas in some case they gain electrons and get negatively charged. Therefore the number of protons will not be equal to the number of electrons.
Let’s take an example and explain the concept.
Take the case of sodium, which is Na and its respective ion is $N{{a}^{+}}$, which is a monovalent ion formed by losing one electron.
The atomic number of Na is 11, so the number of protons and electrons will be 11 as the atomic number of an element will be equal to the number of protons and electrons.
Now let’s consider the number of protons and electrons in $N{{a}^{+}}$.Here the atomic number is 11 only hence the protons will be 11, but the sodium atom loses one electron to form the ion, so the number of electrons present in $N{{a}^{+}}$ will be 10.

Note:
The other differences between atom and ions are:
-The atoms are unstable whereas the ions lose or gain electrons to attain the stable configuration. Hence ions are more stable than atoms.
-The atoms form molecules and they are not independent in the solutions whereas the ions form ionic compounds through ionic bonding and exist as independent species in the solution.