Question

How do you represent the following atom ?

Silicon

Answer 1

General representation of an atom of element:

1. The general representation of an atom of an element is ${}_{\mathrm{Z}}{}^{\mathrm{A}}\mathrm{X}$.
2. Here, $\mathrm{X}$ is the chemical symbol of element, $\mathrm{Z}$ is atomic number and $\mathrm{A}$ is mass number.

Representation of Silicon atom:

1. The chemical symbol for Silicon is $\mathrm{Si}$. Thus, $\mathrm{X}=\mathrm{Si}$.
2. The atomic number of Silicon is $14$. Thus, $\mathrm{Z}=14$.
3. The mass number of Silicon is $28$. Thus, $\mathrm{A}=28$.

Thus, Silicon atom is represented as ${}_{\mathbf{14}}{}^{\mathbf{28}}\mathbf{Si}$.