Question

An atom of copper has a mass number of 63 and an atomic number of 29. How many protons does it have?

Answer 1

Hint: The mass number of the element is also known as the atomic weight ans also known as nucleon number. The nucleon number or the mass number is defined as the total number of the protons and neutrons which is present in the nucleus. The representation for atomic number is done by Z and for mass number it is A.

Complete step-by-step answer:
Now we will discuss how we can calculate the number of protons in the element. The atomic number which is represented by the Z is the number that is equal to the number of protons and the electrons that is present in the atom.

The number of the proton is equal to the electron because the element is considered to be neutral as a whole. So the atomic number is equal to the number of protons and electrons. Here the atomic number for copper is 29 so it has 29 protons in it.

The protons, neutrona and the electrons are considered as the subatomic particles of the atoms. The nucleus is made up by the protons and the neutrons. As the weight of these particles is less so we calculate it in the term of amu.

Note: The electrons are the negatively charged particles while the protons are the positively charged particles. While the neutrons are the neutral particles. We have calculated the number of protons and electrons.

To calculate neutrons we have the following formula:
$$\text{mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons}$$
So on substituting the values we get:
$$\text{mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons} $$
$63 = 29 + \text{number of neutrons}$
$\text{number of neutrons} = 63-29$
$\text{number of neutrons} = 34$
So it has 34 neutrons.