Question

An element Z consists of three types of atoms ${}_{22}{}^{11}\mathrm{Z},{}_{23}{}^{11}\mathrm{Z},{}_{24}{}^{11}\mathrm{Z}$. How many nucleons does each atom have?

Answer 1

The given element Z consists of three types of atoms ${}_{22}{}^{11}\mathrm{Z},{}_{23}{}^{11}\mathrm{Z},{}_{24}{}^{11}\mathrm{Z}$ We need to correctly represent the atomic and mass number of the atoms to determine protons, electrons and neutrons in an atom.

1. As the mass number is always greater than the atomic number, the correct representation will be ${}_{11}{}^{22}\mathrm{Z},{}_{11}{}^{23}\mathrm{Z},{}_{11}{}^{24}\mathrm{Z}$
2. The mass number is written in the superscript and is also called the nucleon number of the atom.
3. It is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons.

Therefore, the number of nucleons in each case will be 22, 23 and 24 respectively.