Why is it than when an atom loses or gains an electron (or a neutron, or a proton) it doesn’t turn into another element?

Question

I’m sorry if this is worded wrong, my science vocabulary isn’t all that in English.

So atoms can lose or gain electrons, protons and neutrons, but when they do, they turn into a different version of that element (ie. an iron cation) instead of another element that has that same amount of neutrons, protons and electrons. How do these changes make an element different, but not enough for it to turn into a different thing?

In: Physics

Answer 1

We define an element by the number of protons. If you change the protons, it becomes a different element.

If you change the number of neutrons, it becomes an isotope of that element. This is because the neutrons don’t participate in electromagnetic forces which is one of the fundamental forces behind chemical reactions (note that the additional mass of neutrons *can* impact chemical reaction rates, especially when the base element is light, like hydrogen.)

When you change the number of electrons, it becomes an ion of that element.