The atomic number of nitrogen is 7. How many protons, neutrons, and electrons make up an atom of nitrogen-15?
1 Answer
Nov 26, 2015
By definition, if
Explanation:
The atomic number is by definition the number of protons, positively charged particles, contained within the atomic nucleus. So if there are 7 protons, there MUST be 7 electrons, 7 negatively charged particles. Why? Because matter is electrically neutral, and positive and negative particles must be equal.
Electrons have negligible mass; the mass number depends on the number of protons contained within the nucleus, PLUS the number of neutrons. Given that we have