anion
We will use sodium chloride as an example to demonstrate the nature of the ionic bond and how it forms. As you know, sodium is a metal and loses its one valence electron to become a cation. Chlorine is a nonmetal and gains one electron in becoming an anion. Both achieve a noble-gas electron configuration. However, electrons cannot be simply lost to nowhere in particular. A more accurate way to describe what is happening is that a single electron is transferred from the sodium atom to the chlorine atom as shown below.