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If an atom, let's say oxygen, has an equal amount of protons (8, positive charge) and electrons (8, negative charge), it's completely NORMAL. See, the atomic number IS the number for the protons and electrons (i.e: Oxygen's atomic number is eight, therefore its protons and electrons would also be eight.)
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∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 14y agothe atom will swell up and become all protons.
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Overall charge in a atom?
There are ways that atoms and molecules can gain or lose electrons. If an atom / molecule gains an electron, it will have a negative charge. If it loses an electron, it will have a positive charge. That having been said, the standard charge of an atom should be neutral. An atom will always have a nucleus made up of a specific number of protons (and in most cases the same number of neutrons). The number of electrons will be the same as the number of protons. Since protons have a positive charge and electrons have a negative charge, the equal number of the two will balance each other off. The only item that can vary is the number of neutrons. When the number of neutrons is different from the number of protons, the atom is called an isotope. Since neutrons have a neutral charge, though, this has no effect on the charge of the atom.
When an atom is said to be charged?
Ordinarily, atoms are electrically neutral, for they have an equal number or electrons and protons. If however, some of the electrons have been stripped off, then the atom will have a nett positive charge. In this condition, it may be accelerated and steered by electrical forces. (Or magnetic forces as well.)
The nucleus contains positively charged particles called protons and particles with no electric charge called neutrons Who said this?
Positively charged central part of the atom the nucleus is called protons.
Why do scientists say that mostt of the mass of an atom is located in the nucleus?
The masses of protons and neutrons are on the order of 1x10-27 kg. The mass of an electron is on the order of 1x10-30 kg. So protons and neutrons, the particles found in a nucleus, weigh around 1000 times as much as the electrons outside the nucleus. So take helium-4 for example: 2 protons, 2 neutrons, and 2 electrons. Its nucleus is around 2000 times more massive than its two electrons. The term "concentrated" is also worth noting. Atoms are much, much, much bigger than their nuclei. A good analogy I often use for this is that if you put a penny in the middle of Giant's stadium, the atom would be the size of the stadium and the penny would be the size of a nucleus. A more specific example would be that the nucleus of a carbon atom has a radius of around 2x10-15 m, and the radius of a carbon atom is around 8x10-11 m. So the nucleus is 40,000 times smaller than the atom.
What if carbon had one additional neutron but the other subatomic particles remained the same this slightly different atom would be called?
It would still be called carbon. THIS ACTUALLY EXISTS! The number of protons determines an element. Atoms with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons are said to be different ISOTOPES of an element. For example, the most common isotope of carbon is called carbon-12; since carbon has 6 protons, it means that the remaining 6 particles are neutrons. However, carbon-13 (6 protons, 7 neutrons) and carbon-14 (6 protons, 8 neutrons) also exist in nature.
What can be said about the number of protons and electrons in an atom Why?
For any element an atom contains EQUAL number of protons and electrons. An atom has no charge. If any given atom has an unequal number of electrons and protons it is no longer an atom, but an ION.
Why is it that the atomic number is only referring to the number of protons and neutrons?
This is not true. The atomic number refers to the number of protons only.NOTE THAT in a neutral atom, the atomic number can be said to refer to both the number of protons and the number of electrons. This is because in order for an atom to be neutral, there must be equal number of electrons and protons.
When is an atom uncharged or neutral?
A neutral atom has no electrical charge on it. So the number of protons in the nucleus is equal to the number of electrons surrounding it. In their normal, elemental state, all atoms are neutral. If it's in an ionised solution, say, then it's not neutral. I think there's something more to your question, though. Why are you asking - is there a situation or a kind of atom that you are thinking of?
What has a positively or negatively charged particle of an atom?
In an atom, protons are positively charged and electrons are negatively charged. If the number of protons and electrons are equal, those atoms are said to be neutral. If they are not equal, it has formed an ion with the net charge.
How many electrons and protons does an atom have?
Well it depends on the atom. Like for instance Hydrogen has 1 electron and 1 proton and Nitrogen has 7 protons and 7 electrons. If the atom is charged, then the number of protons and electrons are not equal. For example, hydrogen ion with +1 charge has 1 proton and 0 electrons. If the number of electrons is the same as the number of protons, then it is said to be neutral.
Why are atom said to be neutral?
The atom has the same number of electrons as protons. An electron is negatively charged, where a proton is positively charged. For example, in a Hydrogen atom, it has 1 proton and 1 electron, the proton and electron cancel out (+1 + -1 = 0) making the atom neutral.
Why is an atom of an element neutral?
Because the number of electrons and protons is always equal.The protons are positively charged (+), the electrons are negatively (-) charged.When their number is equal the number of + and - is also equal.And equal number of - and + would of course give 0.0 represents neutral charge.
Is a charge particle because it has more or fewer electrons than protons?
The number of electrons that surround the nucleus will determine whether or not an atom is electrically charged or electrically neutral. The amount of charge on a single proton is equal to the amount of charge possessed by a single electron. A proton and an electron have an equal amount but an opposite type of charge. Thus, if an atom contains equal numbers of protons and electrons, the atom is described as being electrically neutral. On the other hand, if an atom has an unequal number of protons and electrons, then the atom is electrically charged (and in fact, is then referred to as an ion rather than an atom). Any particle, whether an atom, molecule or ion, that contains less electrons than protons is said to be positively charged. Conversely, any particle that contains more electrons than protons is said to be negatively charged.
Why are atoms said to be elecrically neutral?
Because in an atom,possitive charges(protons) equal to negative charges(electrons)
What is the number of protons neutrons and electrons in an atom of zirconium 90 that has overall charge and an atomic number of 40?
Zirconium-90 (90Zr) has the atomic number 40, and it has 40 protons. The question asked about a specific isotope of zirconium, and the 90 in this isotope represents the number of protons plus the number of neutrons in 90Zr. The math is simple, and 90 minus 40 tells us there are 50 neutrons in this atom. As the atom was said to be electrically neutral, so that means the number of electrons will be equal to the number of protons. The atom will, therefore, have 40 electrons.
What is the number protons in the nucleus?
The number of protons in the nucleus is equal to the atomic number of that atom. Said another way, the atomic number of any element is the number of protons in the nucleus of any atom of that element.It might be helpful to consider some examples, and if we look at mercury, we'll see it has an atomic number of 80. All atoms of mercury have 80 protons in them. Aluminum has the atomic number of 13, so all atoms of it have 13 protons in them. Uranium, which has atomic number 92, has 92 protons in all of its atoms.The number of electrons and neutrons in a given atom of a given element can vary for a number of reasons, and these characteristics are considered separately. The number of electrons in any atom will match the number of protons in the nucleus of that atom only if the atom is a neutral one. Some atoms loan out or borrow electrons, and then they become what are called ions. The number of neutrons can vary, too, and we use the term isotope to talk about atoms of a given element having different neutron counts.The atomic number indicates the number of protons in an atom's nucleus.The number of protons in the nucleus is the atomic number of the atom.
Why does a neutral atom have the same number of protons?
Net charge. When the negative charge of the number of electrons equals the positive charge of the number of protons, it is said to be neutral. Having unequal numbers of electrons to protons, a net charge is then measurable. This atom is then said to be an ION or to be IONIZED. That is except for Hydrogen, but well, that's another matter altogether!
