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If the electric field is strong enough, the free electron gains sufficient energy to liberate a further electron when it next collides with another molecule. The two free electrons then travel towards the anode and gain sufficient energy from the electric field to cause impact ionization when the next collisions occur; and so on.
In the image at left the hydrogen atom (center) contains a single proton and a single electron. Removal of the electron gives a cation (left), whereas addition of an electron gives an anion (right). The hydrogen anion, with its loosely held two-electron cloud, has a larger radius than the neutral atom, which in turn is much larger than the bare ...
Atoms will gain or lose electrons depending on which action takes the least energy. For example, a sodium atom, Na, has a single electron in its valence shell, surrounding 2 stable, filled inner shells of 2 and 8 electrons. Since these filled shells are very stable, a sodium atom tends to lose its extra electron and attain this stable ...
Ionization refers to the process whereby an atom or molecule loses one or several electrons from its atomic orbital, or conversely gains an additional one, from an incoming free electron (electron attachment). In both cases, the atom or molecule ceases to be a neutral particle and becomes a charge carrier. If the species has lost one or several ...
Sodium loses its outer electron to give it a stable electron configuration, and this electron enters the fluorine atom exothermically. The oppositely charged ions – typically a great many of them – are then attracted to each other to form solid sodium fluoride.
The increase in the oxidation state of an atom, through a chemical reaction, is known as oxidation; a decrease in oxidation state is known as a reduction. Such reactions involve the formal transfer of electrons: a net gain in electrons being a reduction, and a net loss of electrons being oxidation. For pure elements, the oxidation state is zero.
An atom with one or two electrons fewer than a closed shell is reactive due to its tendency either to gain the missing valence electrons and form a negative ion, or else to share valence electrons and form a covalent bond. Similar to a core electron, a valence electron has the ability to absorb or release energy in the form of a photon.
The Bohr model of the atom, with an electron making instantaneous "quantum leaps" from one orbit to another with gain or loss of energy. This model of electrons in orbits is obsolete. A problem in classical mechanics is that an accelerating charged particle radiates electromagnetic radiation, causing the particle to lose kinetic energy.