Ionization

Ionization is the formation of an ion when an atom or molecule gains or loses electrons. Losing electrons produces a positive ion; gaining them produces a negative ion.

Ionization energy: The minimum energy needed to remove an electron from an isolated atom or molecule in its ground state. It quantifies the energy required for electron-removal ionization.
Plasma: A state of matter containing mobile charged particles, including electrons and ions, whose collective behavior is important. Ionization creates the charged particles that make a gas a plasma.
Electron: A negatively charged elementary particle that occupies atomic orbitals and participates in chemical bonding. Ionization changes the number of electrons associated with an atom or molecule.
Dissociation: The separation of a molecule into smaller particles, which may be atoms, molecules, or ions. A molecule can split into ions without an electron being transferred to or from the environment.
Photoionization: Ionization caused when an atom or molecule absorbs a photon energetic enough to eject an electron. It shows how light can supply the energy for ionization.
Geiger–Müller tube: A gas-filled radiation detector that registers ionizing events through electrical pulses from gas avalanches. Incoming radiation ionizes its gas, initiating the detectable pulse.
Atomic orbital: A quantum-mechanical description of an electron's spatial state in an atom. An electron's orbital and binding energy affect how much energy ionization requires.
Electrolysis: A chemical process driven by electric current that causes reactions at electrodes in an electrolyte or molten ionic substance. Electrolysis can form ions through chemical reactions, but it is not simply electron removal from an isolated atom.
Electron-impact ionization: Ionization caused when a colliding electron transfers enough energy to eject an electron from an atom or molecule. This collision process is common in gas discharges and mass spectrometers.
Mass spectrometry: An analytical technique that separates ions by their mass-to-charge ratios. Many mass spectrometers first ionize molecules so electric and magnetic fields can manipulate them.

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