👉 The contrary ion, also known as the anion, is a type of charged particle that has a negative charge due to the presence of one or more additional electrons. In contrast, the opposite ion, or cation, carries a positive charge because it has lost one or more electrons, resulting in a net positive charge. While anions are typically formed by nonmetals that gain electrons to achieve stability, cations form from metals that lose electrons to achieve a similar stable configuration. This fundamental difference in electron configuration leads to distinct chemical behaviors; for example, anions tend to attract positively charged ions (cations) to form ionic compounds, whereas cations are more likely to bond with anions to create molecular compounds.
