Why the mass of an atom is found mainly in its nucleus?

1 Answer
Nam D.
Jun 20, 2018

Because electrons have negligible mass...

Explanation:

The nucleus of an atom consists of protons and neutrons, which have almost identical masses. A proton and a neutron are both assumed to have a mass of #1 \ "u"#, while an electron has a mass of #1/1836 \ "u"#, so a lot of teachers would say that the mass of an electron is close to nothing or #0 \ "u"#.

Therefore, the mass of an atom would be mainly the mass of the protons and neutrons, which are found in the nucleus of an atom, so we can say that the mass of an atom is concentrated mainly in the nucleus.

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