A little water helps expose the sodium so it can react with the chlorine gas. The reaction releases a lot of heat as the ionic compound sodium chloride is formed. A sodium and chlorine atom are near ...

This symbol shows that chlorine has 35 particles in the nucleus ... it becomes a positively-charged ion if the atom gains one or more electrons, it becomes a negatively-charged ion A helium ...

For example, the atomic number of chlorine is 17. Every chlorine atom has 17 protons and 17 electrons. It has 17 positive charges and 17 negative charges, meaning that it is neutral overall.