Using the words glass and grass, students practice using the G-blends at the start of a word. Students have to write a sentence using the word and think of three more words that start with the same blend.
Ions are electrically charged particles. Cations have a positive (+ ) charge. Anions have a negative (-) charge. Ions have a charge because electrons can be transferred. The charge is produced when atoms gain electrons (to form anions) or lose electrons (to form cations). Sodium, Na, is in group 1A. It loses one electron to form the sodium ion, Na1+. The charge is written after the symbol as a superscript.
In an atom of matter, an electrical charge occurs whenever the number of protons in the nucleus differs from the number of electrons surrounding that nucleus. If there are more electrons than protons, the atom has a negative charge. If there are fewer electrons than protons, the atom has a positive charge. The amount of charge carried by an atom is always a multiple of the elementary charge, that is, the charge carried by a single electron or a single proton.