Final answer:
The formal charges of the ammonium ion (NH₄⁺) are calculated using its Lewis structure and account for the valence electrons. Each hydrogen has a formal charge of zero, while nitrogen has a formal charge of +1, making the overall charge of the ion +1. This value reflects the overall charge rather than the actual charges on atoms.
Step-by-step explanation:
The formal charge on an atom within a molecule or ion is calculated based on the number of valence electrons in the atom, the number of nonbonding electrons, and the number of bonds the atom has in the molecule's Lewis structure. To calculate the formal charges in the ammonium ion (NH₄⁺), one would sum the valence electrons of nitrogen, consider one electron for each hydrogen atom, and remember that there is an additional positive charge due to the ion's nature. Each hydrogen in NH₄⁺ has a formal charge of zero as it is in line with the number of electrons in a neutral hydrogen atom. The nitrogen atom holds a positive one formal charge resulting from the ion's positive charge. The collective formal charges of the atoms yield the overall charge on the ion, which is +1 in the case of the ammonium ion, consistent with NH₄⁺.
It is important to recognize that the formal charge doesn't reflect the real charge on the atoms within the molecule but serves as a bookkeeping tool to help understand the electron distribution. The real charge on the NH₄⁺ ion is indeed +1, as the entire molecule carries a single positive charge.