Ions are Stabilized by Spreading the Electric Charge
[caption id="attachment_23719" align="alignright" width="440"] This image depicts the spreading charge of a nitrate ion. Image by elpot[/caption] Ions are charged atoms or molecules. They may have a plus charge, a minus charge or – rarely – both. Examples of each are the positive sodium ion (Na+1), the negative bisulfate ion (HSO4-1) and the glycine zwitterion (or dipolar ion) (H3N+1‐CH2‐C(O)2-1). Spreading the electric charge will stabilize both positively and negatively-charged ions – but how does this work? Charge and Nature Even as “nature abhors a vacuum,” it likewise abhors a concentrated electric charge – lightning well illustrates this point. Although ordinary table salt exists in water solution as charged ions, those ions are not isolated as the above shorthand symbols would indicate. The ions are stable in water because the charge…