Atoms are the building blocks of any material. It is the most fundamental unit of matter which gives unique properties to a material. Ions, on the other hand, are also atoms but have a positive or negative charge on them. The major difference between an atom and ion is that atoms have a complete octave, and are stable and neutral, but ions don’t have a complete octave and are unstable and are charged. In this article, we discuss the 12 differences between atoms and ions.
Difference between atom and ion
| Atom | Ions |
| Definition of atoms: Atoms are the smallest particles of an element that may or may not be independent but take part in all chemical reactions. It is the smallest unit that retains the properties of the element. | What is an ion? Ions are a group of atoms which has positive or negative electrical charges. Ions that consists of single atoms are called monoatomic and ion which consists of two or more are called polyatomic. They exist independently. |
| What is an ion? Ions are a group of atoms which has positive or negative electrical charges. Ions that consist of single atoms are called monoatomic and ion which consists of two or more are called polyatomic. They exist independently. | Definition of ions: Ions are a group of atoms with a net electrical charge. Ions which has more protons and positive charge is called a cation and an ion that has more electrons than protons and is negatively charged is called an anion. |
| Structure of an atom: It consists of three fundamental types of particles: Proton, Neutron ,Electrons. Protons and neutrons have the same mass, a proton carries a positive charge and a neutron does not have a charge while an electron is negatively charged. An atom consists of equal numbers of electrons and protons and therefore they don’t have a charge. The nucleus of an atom consists of protons and neutrons and is positively charged. The nucleus has protons and neutrons which give weight and a positive charge. Neutrons and protons have mas one unit and neutrons have no charge and protons carry a single positive charge. | Structure of an ion: They are arranged in a crystal lattice. there are many ionic bonds between the ionic compounds. The lattice structure is a grid-like arrangement of atoms. They are held together by the strong attraction between positive and negative ions. |
| Measuring the radius of an atom: Atomic radius is measured in Nanometers. | The measuring radius of an ion: Determined by measuring the atom in the crystal lattice. |
| What is the charge of an atom? Atoms are neutrally charged | What is the charge of an ion? Ions are positively and negatively charged. |
| Attraction to the electric field: Atoms are not attracted to the electrical field. | Attraction to the electric field: Ions are attracted to electrical fields according to the electrical charge. |
| The number of protons and electrons in an atom: Atoms are composed of an equal number of electrons and protons. | The number of protons and electrons in an atom: Ions are composed of unequal numbers of electrons and protons. |
| Chemical reactions: Atoms take part in chemical reactions. | Chemical reactions: Ions cannot participate in a chemical reaction. Can only be part of the ionic reaction. |
| Stability: Atoms are stable since they have a complete octave. | Chemical reactions: Ions are unstable since they don’t have a complete octave. |
| State of the matter: Free atoms are found only in a gaseous state | State of the matter: Can be found free in all states liquid, solid, and gaseous state. |
| Bonding: Atoms form molecules. | Bonding: Ions form equivalent bonds. |
| Independence in a solution: They are not independent of a solution. | Independence in a solution: They are independent of a solution. |
This is the interactive ball-and-stick model view of chlorobenzene, you can touch and feel every atom that is involved in the structure of this compound.
This is the structure of chlorine ion(Cl–), you can see that it is alone and is not bonded to any other atom.
