Ions question

[vrus]

Can ions exist on their own ? ( In terms of stripping off or adding electrons to elements ) Will they combine with things in the air ?

[insane_alien]

well if the ion is on its own then there wont be any air to combine with it would be in a vacuum. yes they can exist on their own

[vrus]

Can you give me an example of them existing on their own ?

[mezarashi]

Can you give me an example of them existing on their own ?

 

There's no reason why ions can't "exist on their own". They won't interact "specially" with the air. The question's a little ambigious but I'll take it as whether you can find ions in nature. Ions are charged, meaning that they will tend to be attracted to other things around. There necessarily needs to be opposite ions to counter this. In nature, you find ions dissolved in water as the disassociation of a neutral molecule. It would be rather difficult to find large amounts of ions elsewhere because of charge buildups.

 

In the laboratory of course this isn't a problem. Charged ions are used all the time like in mass spectroscopy or for wafer milling like in focused ion beam systems.

[vrus]

So these ions are'nt dangerous to us ? I mean what about alpha radiation, it is basically a Helium ion and if it penetrates, its trouble ! Thats the example i couldn't understand.

[insane_alien]

if you were bombarded by a suficient amount of ions it could kill you

[akcapr]

nice- ive got anew idea for my laser gun

[mezarashi]

So these ions are'nt dangerous to us ? I mean what about alpha radiation, it is basically a Helium ion and if it penetrates, its trouble ! Thats the example i couldn't understand.

 

No, ions floating around are not "dangerous", although the effect of prolonged exposure to rather unnatural substances is unknown to me.

 

What makes alpha particles dangerous is that when they are produced, they are usually come with high kinetic energy. High kinetic energy means they are able to penetrate atomic nuclei and thus mess up your cell's DNA, which will eventually kill you in sufficient doses.

 

An ion gun for example will probably kill you as well if you touch it at the wrong place... that's because they are usually charged at say in the thousands if not sometimes millions of electron volts. It's the transfer of energy that's scary, not the ion.