Chemistry / Unit 12 Chem 2314 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Nonmetals Form Only Anions, Never Monatomic Cations
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The idea
Nonmetals never form monatomic cations under ordinary conditions, since high ionization energy makes electron loss unfavorable, so every monatomic nonmetal ion is an anion.
In practice
Chlorine forms the chloride anion Cl− readily, but never a monatomic Cl+ cation.
Where people slip
A nonmetal can still carry a positive oxidation state in a covalent compound — the restriction is on forming a true monatomic cation.
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