Ions:
If an atom has more or less electrons than protons, then that atom obtains an electric charge. A shortage of electrons outcomes in positive charge; a surplus of electrons gives a negative charge. An element's identity stays the same, no matter how great the excess or shortage of electrons. In the extreme situation, all the electrons might be eliminated from an atom, leaving only nucleus. This will still symbolize the same element, though, as it would if it had all its electrons. An electrically charged atom is known an ion. Whenever a substance contains many ions, the material is said to be ionized. When an atom has more electrons than protons, then it is a negative ion. When it has fewer electrons than protons, it is a positive ion. Whenever the number of protons and electrons is the same, then the atom is electrically neutral.
Ionization can occur when substances are heated to high temperatures or whenever they are placed in intense electrical fields. Ionization can also take in a substance as an outcome of exposure to ultraviolet light, gamma rays, x-rays, or high-speed subatomic particles like protons, neutrons, helium nuclei, or electrons. So-called ionizing radiation, more frequently known as radioactivity, ionizes the atoms in alive tissue and can cause illness, death, & genetic mutations.
Lightning is the outcome of ionization of the air. An electric spark is caused by a large upsurge of charges, resultant in forces on the electrons in the intervening medium. Such forces pull the electrons away from individual atoms. Ionized atoms normally conduct electric currents with greater ease than electrically neutral atoms. The ionization, caused by the powerful electrical field, takes place along a jagged, narrow channel, as you have certainly seen. After the lightning flash, the nuclei of the atoms rapidly attract stray electrons back, and the air becomes electrically neutral again.
An element might be both an ion and an isotope distinct from the usual isotope. For illustration, an atom of carbon might have eight neutrons instead of the usual six, therefore being the isotope 14C, and it might have been stripped of an electron, providing it a positive unit electric charge and making it an ion.
The environment of our planet becomes less dense with increasing altitude. Since of this, the amount of ultraviolet and x-ray energy received from the Sun gets greater as we go higher. At certain altitude, the gases in the atmosphere become ionized by solar radiation. These areas comprise the ionosphere of the Earth. The ionosphere has an important effect on the propagation of radio waves at certain frequencies. The ionized layers refract or absorb the waves. This makes long-distance communication possible on the so-called shortwave radio bands.