It says that all metals form positive ions in a reaction but it doesn’t make sense for me considering there are metals in group 5 and 6 which means they would have to gain electrons making the ion negatively charged. Then how come all metals are form positive ions… Someone please explain..
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Metals usually form positive ions because metals are very “electropositive”. That means that the outer electrons of each atom of a metal are very loosely bound to the atom’s nucleus. So, when electronegative atoms (atoms which tend to suck-in electrons) react with metal atoms, they tend to form ionic compounds consisting of anions (negative ions) of the electronegative element, and cations (positive ions) of the metal. For example, when 100 atoms of Chlorine gas come into contact with 100 atoms of sodium metal, they form NaCl (table salt) consisting of 100 Na+ cations and 100 Cl- anions.
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