A positively chargedionis called cation. The positive charge is a result of losing electrons. See the example below for potassium.
Figure 1:A potassium (K) atom has an equal number of protons and electrons (19) and is hence uncharged. In contrast, a potassium cation (K+)已经失去了一个电子。这导致更多的保护ons than electrons and gives K an overall positive charge of +1. The charge is indicated by a superscript.