Whenever an atom loses or gains an electron while bonding with the other atom, an ion is formed. This process may lead to the negative or positive ions depending upon the deficiency or access in proton or electrons. When in an atom the electrons and protons are equal in numbers, these produce a neutral situation which means there is no positive or negative charge. While with the increase of protons over electrons, the positive ions are formed and thus the positive charge increases. On the other hand when the electrons are increased in numbers over protons in a particular reaction, negative ions are formed and hence negative charge increases. This is a way to know how are ions formed.

Electrons are the negative elements hence if there is deficiency in electrons which means there are more protons in an atom leading to have positive charge. The positive ions formed through this process are sometimes known as a cation. However when an atom gains negative charges which means it has a negative ion it is known as anion. If you want to know that how are ions formed then you must observe the ionic bonding process. Generally the ions are formed at the time to or more elements undergo an ionic bonding process. Under this process the elements easily receive or exchange electrons so that they may complete their outer cell.

The saturated atoms have balanced ratio or electrons and protons which mean that their outer cell has eight electrons. When the outer cell loses an electron the ion is formed which is termed as anion. The increase or decrease of electronic charge in an atom is simply referred as an ion. This means an atom is not neutral anymore and is all set to react with other atoms. They can be positive as well as negative ions and ready to bond with other atoms having opposite charge. Ions can be formed chemically or through nuclear reaction.

Another way to form an ion is through the photoelectric effect. Some easy ways to know how are ions formed leads to atom colliding with other atoms. When the atoms collide with other atoms at a very high temperature, ionized gas of plasma is received. Ions can also be formed in a situation when two ions have the ionization energies and electro-negativity causing a pull between the two. These are some of the common ways through which an ion is formed.