What are ions?
Answer: An ion is a particle, atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of the electron is considered negative by convention. The negative charge of an electron is equal and opposite to charged proton considered positive by convention.
how are they differ with neutral atoms? Atoms are neutral; they contain the same number of protons as electrons. ... Atoms that gain extra electrons become negatively charged. A neutral chlorine atom, for example, contains 17 protons and 17 electrons. By adding one more electron we get a negatively charged Cl- ion with a net charge of -1.