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You need to know the atomic number to know how many electrons an atom has. You can find it next to the element's symbol on the Periodic Table.

For example, lithium has an atomic number of 3. This tells us that a lithium atom has 3 protons. Now since atoms are neutral they must have the same number of protons and electrons, so lithium also has 3 electrons.

Atoms can lose or gain electrons to become charged species called ions, in which the number of electrons will not equal the number of protons; however, in a neutral atom:

atomic number = number of protons = number of electrons

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14y ago
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11y ago

A neutral atom contains exactly the same number of electrons as it has protons in its nucleus.

The number of protons in an atoms nucleus is that atoms atomic number and defines what element that atom belongs to in the periodic table of the elements.

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9y ago

Oxygen is the 8th element in the periodic table. This means that Oxygen has 8 protons and 8 electrons. In order to get the number of neutrons you take the atomic weight in this case 15.9999~16 and you subtract it by the number of protons (16-8).

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16y ago

the protons and electrons number is always same in any atom that's why you can say "An atom is electrically neutral"

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13y ago

It depends on the atom. Hydrogen can have 1 and Uranium can have 92

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14y ago

It depends on which element it is, and whether it is an ion. A periodic table should be useful in this case. See related link below.

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13y ago

It depends on its position in the periodic table

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Q: How many electrons does an atom contain?
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