What characteristic is shared by most simple polyatomic ions? A) They are anions. B) They are bonded ionically. C) They are cations. D) They have positive charges.

Question

asked Oct 6, 2019 66.8k views

1 Answer

Hiep Tran · Answer 1 · 2019-10-10T11:09:52+0000

Answer : The correct answer is option A : They are anions.

Explanation :

Polyatomic ions are the ions that contain 2 or more different atoms that are covalently bonded to each other.

Polyatomic ions could be positively charged ( Cations) or negatively charged (anions).

But if we take a look at the most commonly known polyatomic ions, we will see that almost all of them are anions .

Some examples are given below.

Nitrate : NO₃⁻

Sulfate : SO₄²⁻

Hydroxide : OH⁻

Phosphate : PO₄³⁻

Chlorate : ClO₃⁻

The only positively charged polyatomic ion that is most common is NH₄⁺ ion.

Hence we can say that, the characteristic that is shared by most simple polyatomic ions is that they are anions.