Definitions Applicable to Ionic Reactions
Ions – Charged Species.  Metals tend to form cations
and Nonmetals tend to form anions. 
Ionic substances tend to dissolve readily in water to
form solutions because they are charged
particles that should electrostatically attract
the corresponding end of the water dipole.  However, not all ionic substances are soluble in water,
indicating that they do not have enough energy to break apart the ionic crystal.

Cations – Positively charged ions.  Cations in todayÕs
experiment include: H+,  Na+, K+, Ca2+, Ba2+,
Fe3+, Cu2+, Ni2+, and Sn2+.

Anions – Negatively charged ions.  Anions in todayÕs
experiment include:  Cl-, S2-, NO3-, SCN-, SO42-,
CrO42-, and C2042-.