What is an anion?

1 Answer
Aug 14, 2014

An Anion is a negatively charged ion.

Non-metals readily take on electrons in order to fulfill the role of octet and in turn become negatively charged ions.

Fluorine #(1s^2 2s^2 2p^5)# is one electron short of a filled outer orbital and readily takes on an extra electron becoming #(1s^2 2s^2 2p^5)# and a #F^-1# anion .

The polyatomic ion nitrate is a covalent bond between a nitrogen with a +5 charge and three oxygens with -2 charges. This creates a -1 imbalance and makes nitrate an #NO_3^-1# polyatomic anion.