Re: pinhole atoms and ions

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From: Paul Doherty (pauld@exploratorium.edu)
Date: Thu Mar 10 2005 - 22:39:36 PST


Message-Id: <56405668-91F8-11D9-9AFA-000A95B38012@exploratorium.edu>
From: Paul Doherty <pauld@exploratorium.edu>
Subject: Re: pinhole atoms and ions
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 22:39:36 -0800

Hi MIke

Here's what Merriam-Webster says

ION
1 : an atom or group of atoms that carries a positive or negative
electric charge as a result of having lost or gained one or more
electrons
2 : a charged subatomic particle (as a free electron)

So all atoms that are charged are ions but not all ions are charged
atoms.

interesting

Paul D

On Mar 10, 2005, at 4:03 PM, Miller Creek Middle School wrote:

> A student of mine found a bit of science minutia that he wanted
> clarification on (and I couldn't offer him the answer...). Our
> textbook says an ion is a "charged particle," rather than a charged
> atom. He concluded that an ion cannot be referred to as an atom. I
> said I thought an ion could be considered an atom, just an atom with a
> charge. It did get me curious about the true meaning of "atom." Is
> an ion an atom? Is this all just a bunch of fuss over a little
> terminology, or is there a concept out there that I'm missing...
>
> Mike Schulist
> Miller Creek Middle School
>
>
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