PHS 100 - Self Assessment

Competency #6

Sodium atoms and ions each have 11 protons in the nucleus. Without 11 protons in the nucleus, it would not be sodium!
Sodium atoms and ions both have 12 neutrons, on average.

Sodium atoms are neutral, while sodium ions are not. To be neutral, a sodium atom must have 11 electrons to offset the 11 protons. By contrast, a sodium ion has 1 less electron (for a total of 10), giving it an overall charge of +1.
Sodium atoms do not have a full outer shell, while sodium ions do have a full outer shell.
It is possible to observe a chunk of pure sodium metal, with all Na atoms. It is not possible to observe a chunk of pure Na +1 ions, there must always be negative ions also present to balance out the charge. Thus, you can observe a chunk of NaCl, which has Na⁺¹ ions in it, but there are also Cl^-1 ions present.
Sodium atoms make use of 3 electron shells, while sodium ions use only the first 2 electron shells.