What is a particle inside an atom that carries a positive electrical charge?

1 Answer
anor277
Dec 31, 2016

#"A proton..............."#

Explanation:

Note that the assignment of charge is entirely arbitrary, and a bit unfortunate for #"quantum chemists"# (but not so for #"nucular physicists,"# who don't have to be so careful in multi-proton as compared to multi-electron calculations.) The point is that charged, massive nuclear particles, #"protons"#, have an equal but opposite electronic charge to charged, extranuclear particles of negligible mass, #"electrons"#.

See here for a practical example of assignment of charge on an ion.

Related questions
See all questions in Basic Atomic Structure
Impact of this question
2767 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License