What is bigger; the atom or the ion?

Answer 1

A negative ion will be larger than the atom; a positive ion will be smaller than the atom.

Answer 2

It depends on the charge on the ion. I assume you know from your chemistry class that atoms have a net charge of zero - they have equal numbers of protons (+) in the nucleus and electrons (-) outside the nucleus.

You should also know from your chemistry class that only the noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Rn, and so on) have stable electron configurations. All other atoms in the periodic table do not possess stable electron configurations. Ions are the species that form when an atom with an unstable electron configuration either gains or loses electron(s) in order to achieve this stable condition.

Sodium, for example, can achieve Neon's stable electron configuration by losing one electron. After losing that electron, however, the sodium ion has 11 protons and 10 electrons, for a net charge of +1. Because the positive charge of the nucleus is larger than the negative charge of the remaining electrons, the excess positive charge will tend to contract the electron cloud, making the sodium +1 ion smaller than its neutral sodium atom counterpart.

Fluorine, on the other hand, is one electron short of Neon's stable configuration. After gaining that electron, a fluorine ion has a net charge of -1; nine protons in the nucleus and ten electrons in the electron cloud. In this case, the nine protons in the nucleus are not able to hold ten electrons as close to the nucleus as they can hold nine electrons. The electron cloud will expand after the tenth electron enters it. Therefore, a fluorine -1 ion will be larger than its neutral fluorine atom counterpart.

So, the moral of the story is that, *in general*, positive ions will be smaller than the neutral atoms from which they were made. Negative ions will be larger than the neutral atoms fro which they were made.

Answer 3

WildOtter is correct. This is because (in most all cases-but there are always exceptions) when an atom looses an electron it can hold the remaining electrons tighter and may draw them closer. When is gains an electron it has a more difficult time holding that extra electron loosing a little grip on all its' electrons, allowing them to move further out.

In this sense it gets a larger or smaller diameter.

From a mass point of view obviously gaining would be larger and loosing would be smaller, however, since electrons have such a small mass it would hardly matter (a little pun there).

Answer 4

Assuming you are speaking about one particular element, from a mass standpoint the ion is an atom with the electrons stripped off so the atom would have more mass.

Answer 5

Depends on the ion....negative ions are larger than atoms, Positive ions are smaller than their atoms.

Answer 6

The atom is larger, because the whole is equal to the sum of it's parts.

Answer 7

erm... that both cant be compared... they are both very small but ion form from the combination of atom

Answer 8

An atom. An ion is the smallest cell/cell part..

Answer 9

Hi. The size may not change if the missing electron(s) do not leave the shell empty.

Answer 10

ion