Question #4c3aa

1 Answer
Feb 6, 2015

For neutral atoms, you'll always have a net charge equal to zero. This happens because a neutral atom has equal numbers of protons and electrons.

Elements are listed in the periodic table in order of their atomic numbers, symbol #"Z"#, which represent the number of protons they have in their nucleus. So, for a neutral atom, the number of electrons will be equal to that atom's atomic number.

#"number of e"^(-) = Z# #-># for neutral atoms

The number of neutrons an atom has in its nucleus is determined by using its mass number, symbol #"A"#, which represents the total number of protons and neutrons that atom has. Therefore, you can determine how many neutrons you have by using

#"neutrons" = "[mass number](http://socratic.org/chemistry/a-first-introduction-to-matter/mass-number)" - "atomic number"#

which is equivalent to

#N = A - Z = (N + p) - p# - protons plus neutrons minus protons.

So, for any element in the periodic table, you'll have

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nuclear/nucnot.html

Net charge is determined by comparing the number of protons and the number of electrons an atom has. So,

#"Z" - "number of electrons" = "net charge"#

I'll redirect you to a more detailed answer on determining net charge because I don't want this answer to become very long:

http://socratic.org/questions/i-want-to-know-how-to-get-the-net-charge-for-each-element