Because they also have 8 negatively charged electrons.
Oxygen actually has 8 protons, which are positively charged, and in its neutral state, it also has 8 negatively charged electrons. This balance of protons and electrons results in a neutral overall charge for the oxygen atom. If oxygen were to lose electrons, it would become positively charged, but in its standard form, the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons.
Oxygen's atomic number is 8. Thus it has 8 positively charged protons per atom. In order for oxygen to be neutral, it must also have 8 negatively charged electrons in each atom.
The overall charge of an oxygen atom is 0, as it has 8 protons (positively charged) and 8 electrons (negatively charged), making it electrically neutral.
Oxygen atoms are neutral because they have the same number of protons and electrons. Protons are positively charged particles, while electrons are negatively charged particles. The positive charge of the protons is balanced out by the negative charge of the electrons in an oxygen atom, resulting in a neutral overall charge.
An oxygen atom has 6 protons and 6 electrons, giving it a neutral charge. When it gains 2 electrons to form an oxygen ion, it will have 8 electrons in total. Since it now has 2 more negatively charged electrons than positively charged protons, the oxygen ion will have a charge of -2.
A positively charged ion of oxygen
NO!!! 8 protons , means 8 positive charges ( 8+). 10 electrons , means 10 negative charges ( 10-). Summing 8+ 10 - = 2- So the ion will have a charge of '2-' From the information given this is the oxygen ion ( O^(2-)).
Water is a neutral molecule, meaning it has no net charge. The oxygen atom in a water molecule has a slight negative charge, while the hydrogen atoms have a slight positive charge, but overall the molecule is neutral.
Oxygen atoms are neutral, and so their net charge is zero. This is because its nucleus has the same number of eight positively charged protons as there are (also) eight electrons in the shells around it.
The particles with charge within atoms are protons (positive charge) and electrons (negative charge). The charge on a single electron is equal in magnitude to the charge on a single proton. Thus if there are equal numbers of protons and neutrons in an atom, the charge of that atom will be zero/neutral. For example, a carbon atom always has 6 protons (definitive of carbon). If it also has 6 electrons, it will be neutral! Oxygen atoms have 8 protons. If they also have 8 electrons, they will be neutral. The positive and negative charges cancel each other out. For example, with oxygen..... +8 for the protons and -8 for the electrons (remember each single proton's charge is equal in magnitude to that of a single electron's).......add them together and.......+8 + (-8) and you get 0. Neutral! (Atoms are not neutrally charged if they have different numbers of protons and electrons. If the number of protons and electrons differ in an atom, the atom is referred to as an ion.)
The overall charge of any atom is 0. This is because the overall charge is number of protons - number of electrons. For every atom the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons so it is 0.
The overall charge on a water molecule is neutral because it contains an equal number of positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons. Each water molecule consists of two positively charged hydrogen atoms and one negatively charged oxygen atom, resulting in a balanced charge overall.