Polyatomic ion

Common card · No. 315343

A polyatomic ion (also known as a molecular ion) is a covalent bonded set of two or more atoms, or of a metal complex, that can be considered to behave as a single unit and that usually has a net charge that is not zero, or in the special case of a zwitterion, where spatially separated charges may lead the net charge to be variable depending on acidity conditions. The term molecule may or may not be used to refer to a polyatomic ion, depending on the definition used. The prefix poly- carries the meaning "many" in Greek, but even ions of two atoms are commonly described as polyatomic. There may be more than one atom in the structure that has non-zero charge, therefore the net charge of the structure may have a cationic (positive) or anionic (negative) nature depending on those atomic details. In older literature, a polyatomic ion may instead be referred to as a radical (or less commonly, as a radical group). In contemporary usage, the term radical refers to various free radicals, which...

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