Question

If number of electrons in an atom is 8 and number of protons are also 8, then (i) what is the atomic number of the atom? And (ii) what is the charge on the atom?

Answer 1

Protons:-

• Protons are nothing but the subatomic particles which positively charged and that are present in the nucleus of an atom.
• They are represented by the symbol $\mathrm{p}$.
• They have a charge of $+1.602\times {10}^{-19}\mathrm{coulomb}$
• They have a mass of $1.67\times {10}^{-27}\mathrm{kg}$

Electrons:-

• Electrons are the subatomic particles which are negatively charged, that is they carry a negative charge.
• They revolve around the nucleus of an atom and have the same charge as that of a proton but opposite in sign.
• They are represented by the symbol ${\mathrm{e}}^{-}$.
• They have a charge of $-1.602\times {10}^{-19}\mathrm{coulomb}$
• They have a mass of $9.10\times {10}^{-31}\mathrm{kg}$

Atomic number:-

• The atomic number of an element is generally determined by the total number of protons in it.
• This atomic number is used to differentiate one element from another.
• For example number of protons in an atom is 8, therefore its atomic number is 8.
• Atomic number is represented y the symbol Z.

Charge of an atom:-

• We already have known that an electron has an opposite charge to that of a proton.
• And also the magnitude of the charge is equal.
• As a result if the atoms have 8 electrons and 8 protons, then that atom will be electrically neutral.
• This means that the atoms will carry no charge as their neutral.

Therefore, the atomic number of the atom is 8 and the atom will have 0 charge