the.com/ion
an atom that gained or lost a vote and now carries a charge
means An atom or molecule that has gained or lost one or more electrons, giving it a net positive or negative electric charge.
from From Greek ion, 'going,' the present participle of ienai, 'to go' — coined in the 1830s by the polymath William Whewell at the request of Michael Faraday, because these charged particles 'go' toward one electrode or the other. The same root gives us the anion (going up) and cation (going down), named for the directions they travel in solution.
- named by
- Faraday, from Greek for traveler
- powers nerves
- sodium and potassium fire your thoughts
- in space
- ion thrusters slowly push deep-space probes
- lightning
- ionized air carves the bolt's path
- salt secret
- dissolved salt is just ions swimming free
ion drive — propulsion system used on nasa's dawn spacecraft since 2007
ion exchange resin — industrial water purification material used in nestlé and municipal water treatment
ion channel — protein structure in human neurons that regulates electrical signals