mom31257 Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I have a question about polyatomic ions. Do some or all of these occur in nature, and if so, why does an ion such as ammonium (NH4) +1 occur? Why would the nitrogen atom "accept" all 4 of the hydrogen atoms instead of only 3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 Any chemists out there? I can't believe there's been 67 views without any takers! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHomeScientist Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Yes, polyatomic ions are commonplace in nature, and play a key role in life processes. There are hundreds of common polyatomic ions in nature, but among the most familiar in addition to the ammonium ion are the phosphate and nitrate ions. As to the how and why of nitrogen bonding with three or four hydrogen atoms, Wikipedia has a pretty good explanation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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