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Glite Dictionary
ammonium ion

ammonium ion

4.1
A positively charged particle formed from ammonia and found in many fertilizers
  • noun
  • /əˈmɒn.i.əm aɪ.ən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ión de amonio
  • This is ammonium nitrate dissolving in water to make ammonium ions and nitrate ions.

Examples

  • Ammonium ions are often found in fertilizers, as they provide an essential nutrient for crops.

  • The presence of ammonium ions in the solution indicated a chemical reaction had taken place.

  • In the laboratory, researchers used ammonium ions to create a fertilizer that promotes plant growth.

Synonyms

ammonium
vsammonium ion
  • Specialized
18 7.0

A small positively charged particle made from ammonia used in fertilizers

is the same meaning but named with an explicit charged particle word

Surface Forms

ammonium ion singular
ammonium ions plural

Morphology

ammonium + ion

The phrase is fully compositional: if a learner knows 'ammonium' (the NH4⁺ species) and 'ion' (a charged atom or molecule), they can directly infer that 'ammonium ion' refers to the positively charged ammonium species. This follows regular chemical naming patterns (noun + ion) and is cross-linguistically transparent, so its meaning is predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Ammonium ion: The name comes from ammonium (ammonia with one extra hydrogen) and ion (a 'charged particle'). So the name tells you it is an ammonia-based particle with a 'positive' charge, which is why ammonium ion refers to the NH4+ particle found in many compounds.