What are electrons and how do you find how many electrons are in an atom?

Answer 1

Electrons, protons and neutrons are the building blocks of atoms. Electrons have a negative electrical charge and can be thought of as small particles that orbit the nucleus, made of the neutrons and protons. In fact, the behavior of electrons is very complex but this simple model is effective.

The number of protons in an atom is the atomic number of the atom and this defines what element the atom is. The atom normally has the same number of electrons as protons. Therefore, the atomic number of an element represents the number of electrons in the atom.

Note that the number of electrons can be changed when the atom is part of a compound although the number protons does not change.

Answer 2

Electrons are subatomic particles that orbit around the nucleus of an atom. They carry a negative charge and are responsible for chemical reactions and the formation of chemical bonds. The number of electrons in an atom can be determined by its atomic number, which represents the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom. In a neutral atom, the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons.