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

Protons are like the ID of an element, if it somehow changes the amount of protons (eg. radioactive decay) it becomes a new element.
If it changes the neutron amount it becomes a different isotope. Isotopes are the same element but with different nuclear mass (i.e. neutrons change amount)
If it changes electron amount it becomes an ion, it changes its electric charge (eg. Fe+, it lost an electron and became electrically charged positive, since it now has more protons, particles with positive charge, than electrons which have negative charge)