Question

Give reason why an atom of element is electrically neutral?

Answer 1

Hint: Atoms are electrically neutral because they have equal numbers of protons (positively charged) and electrons (negatively charged). If an atom gains or losses one or more electrons, it becomes an ion.

Complete answer:
We know that an atom consists of the three subatomic particles. These particles are protons, electrons and neutrons. Atomic structure refers to the structure of an atom comprising a nucleus (center) in which the protons (positively charged) and neutrons (neutral) are present. The negatively charged particles called electrons revolve around the center of the nucleus and The atomic number of an element describes the total number of protons in its nucleus.
Neutral atoms have equal numbers of protons and electrons. However, atoms may gain or lose electrons in order to increase their stability. A neutral atom is an atom that has no charge.
In atom protons are positively charged, electrons are negatively charged (with the same magnitude of charge per particle as a proton). Neutrons have no charge.
Negative and positive charges of equal magnitude cancel each other out. This means that the negative charge on an electron perfectly balances the positive charge on the proton. In other words, a neutral atom must have exactly one electron for every proton.
For example: A neutral Sodium atom has atomic number $$11$$ , which means, it has $$11$$ protons and since it is neutral, it also has $$11$$ electrons

Note:
In the neutral state, an atom has little electromagnetic attraction to other atoms. Note that the electric field of a neutral atom is weak, but is not exactly zero because the atom is not a point particle.