Question #768e5
1 Answer
Nov 30, 2017
Sodium forms a positive ion so it is a cation and chloride is an anion because it forms a negative ion.
Explanation:
In a compound like NaCl, Na forms a plus one charge because it loses one electron to form a stable octet, and Cl gains one electron giving it a minus one charge to form a stable octet. Therefore, when they bond like that, Na is the cation because it forms the positive charge and Cl is the anion because it forms the negative charge.