• Cation - An ion with a positive charge, e.g. Na¹⁺
• Anion - An ion with a negative charge, e.g. Cl^1-
• Ionic Compound (Salt) - A metal cation and a non-metal anion.
• Compounds are neutral:  Total Positive Charge = Total Negative Charge

Monatomic Positive Ions with Single Oxidation States

• The name of the element is the same as the ion it forms.

• Oxidation Number - The charge that would be present on an atom if the element or compound in which the atom is found were ionic.
• Alkali Metals - Metals in Group 1A on the Periodic Table - form ions with 1+ charge.
  • e.g. Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺
• Alkaline Earth Metals - Metals in Group 2A on the Periodic Table - form ions with 2+ charge.
  • e.g. Be²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺
• Other Monatomic Positive Ions with Single Oxidation States
  • Sliver - Ag¹⁺
  • Zinc - Zn²⁺
  • Aluminum - Zn²⁺

Monatomic Positive Ions with More than one Oxidation State

• Traditional ("Old") System - names positive ions using Latin roots.
  • The suffix -ic is added to the ion with the higher oxidation number.
  • The suffix -ous is added to the ion with the lower oxidation number

• Stock System - names positive ions using English element names with a Roman numeral to note the oxidation number.

Monatomic Negative Ions

• The suffix -ide is added to the root of the element from which it forms.

Sample Ionic Compounds

Next:  "Polyatomic Ions"