Question

How can the atomic number of nitrogen be determined $ ? $

Answer 1

Hint: First we have to know that the atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. The atomic number is denoted by $ Z $ . The number of electrons in an atom is always equal to the number of protons to maintain the electrical neutrality of the atom. Hence, the atomic number of an atom is equal to the number of protons or the number of electrons in an electrically neutral atom.

Complete answer:
In nitrogen, the number of protons and electrons is the same and is equal to $ 7 $ . We know that the number of protons is equal to the atomic number. Also, isotopes of an atom are the substances which have the same atomic number but different mass number.
Hence the atomic number of nitrogen is $ 7 $ .
The number of neutrons in an atom can be calculated by using the formula
 $ Z + N = A $ -----(1)
Where, $ Z $ is the atomic number (the number of protons), $ N $ is the number of neutrons and $ A $ is the atomic mass of the atom.
We know that the mass number of nitrogen is $ 15 $ .
Using the equation(1), the number of neutrons in the nitrogen atom is $ 8 $ .

Note:
In an atom, protons and neutrons lie inside the nucleus and electrons revolve around the nucleus. Also note that, protons are the positively charged particles, electrons are the negatively charged particles and neutrons are the neutral particles.