How do you tell if an element is cation or anion? (10 pts)
is anything to the left of the staircase on the periodic table (the one in the middle of the metalloids) a cation and anything to the right of it an anion, or does it just depend entirely on the number of valence electrons?

h let me think

answer: atomic mass was originally used to arrange elements on the periodic table, but is no longer used to organize the modern version.

explanation:

originally atomic mass was used to arrange elements on the periodic table from left to right in a row. each column then shows similar properties of elements of a group.

in modern periodic table, the atoms are arranged in increasing atomic number. as atomic number represents the number of protons in an atom which is unique for every atom.