Kaplan Nursing Entrance Exam Practice 2025 – Comprehensive Prep

Question: 1 / 2700

What happens to an atom when it becomes an ion with a positive charge?

It gains an electron

It loses a neutron

It loses an electron

When an atom becomes an ion with a positive charge, it has lost one or more electrons. This loss of electrons alters the balance between the positively charged protons in the nucleus and the negatively charged electrons that orbit around it. Since protons determine the atomic number and hence the identity of the element, and neutrons do not carry a charge, the loss of electrons is what leads to a net positive charge, resulting in a positively charged ion, or cation.

The other options do not lead to the formation of a positively charged ion. Gaining an electron would result in a negative charge, losing a neutron does not affect the charge because neutrons are neutral, and gaining a proton would increase the positive charge and change the element itself, but it does not describe the process of forming a positively charged ion from a neutral atom.

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It gains a proton

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