How many protons nuetrons and electrons does argon have?

Answer 1

In order to answer this question, the specific isotope of argon must be known. However, I will answer it using argon-40 because it makes up over 99% of the atoms of argon. Argon-40 has a mass number of 40, meaning that the sum of protons and neutrons in the nuclei of its atoms is 40. In order to use this information to determine the numbers of protons and neutrons, you also need to know the atomic number, which is the number of protons in the nucleus of its atoms. Argon's atomic number is 18, so we know that all argon atoms have 18 protons. To calculate the number of neutrons, we subtract the atomic number from the mass number, which is (40-18)=22 neutrons. The number of electrons equals the number of protons in a neutral atom, so argon atoms have 18 electrons. So, to sum things up, neutral atoms of argon-40 contain 18 protons, 22 neutrons, and 18 electrons.