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Sodium Chlorine
If you look at the diagrams of the sodium and chlorine atoms you can see that sodium normally has eleven
electrons in shells around the nucleus. You can also see that chlorine has seventeen electrons around its
nucleus. Both of these atoms would be happier if they had eight electrons in their outside shells.
The easiest way for sodium to do this is for it to lose an electron - and chlorine can do this by gaining an
extra electron.
The sodium atom and the chlorine atom want to make their outside shells contain only eight electrons. The
sodium atom wants to lose an electron and the chlorine atom wants to gain an electron.
When the two atoms come together the electron from the sodium atom jumps into the gap in the outer shell
of the chlorine atom.
If you look at the diagram the sodium ion now contains only ten electrons and the new chloride ion (an
anion) has eighteen electrons.
However, both ions now have eight electrons in their outer shell. [End of reference] The sodium ion has a
net positive charge of +1 because it has one fewer electrons than protons; the chlorine ion has a net
negative charge of -1 because it has one more electrons than protons.
In a sodium chloride (salt) solution, there are sodium chloride (NaCl) molecules, sodium ions (Na+) and
chloride ions (Cl-). We can write a chemical equilibrium equation:
Some metals have a single electron in their outer shell and are good conductors. Examples are copper and
silver. Zinc has two electrons. The weakly attracted electrons of metals can move through the metal under
the influence of an electric field that results if a voltage is applied across the metal. Carbon has four
electrons in its outer shell and is in the form of a stable hexagonal crystal. Its outer shell electrons do not
move easily under the influence of an electric field, so carbon is not a good conductor. This property makes
carbon a good substance to use as a resistor, and many resistors are made of carbon.
The following is taken from Modern Chemistry, QD33, D8, 1962 in the USM Portland Library.
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Powdered Zinc Metal Carbon surrounded by MnO2
29.2 The active material of the positive electrode of the NiMH battery, in the charged
state, is nickel oxyhydroxide (NiOOH). The negative active material, in the charged state,
is hydrogen in the form of a metal hydride. This metal alloy is capable of undergoing a
reversible hydrogen adsorbing-desorbing reaction as the battery is charged and
discharged. An aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide is the major component of the
electrolyte.
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