Bonds, Ions, and Isotopes
Atoms can form bonds. They can form two different
kinds of bonds: ionic and covalent. Ionic bonds are bonds where atoms
either gain or lose valence electrons and are usually formed by a metal and a nonmetal.
Covalent
bonds are bonds where atoms share valence electrons and the electrons orbit
around both nuclei. Covalent bonds are usually formed by nonmetals.
Sometimes atoms can have a charge. Because of the equal balance between
protons and electrons, the opposite charges are cancled out. But, when an
ionic bond is formed electrons are lost or gained by atoms taking away that
equality. For example: if an atom gains one electron it will have a negative
(-1) charge because there is a larger number of a negatively charged particles
than positively charged particles. Or if an atom loses an electron it will
have a positive charge. These are called ions. Positively charged ions are called cat ions, and negatively charged ions are called ant ions. Isotopes
are atoms that have a larger number number of neutrons than usual giving
it a greater atomic mass.
