Question

How is it possible for an atom to have no charge even though it is made up of protons, neutrons and electrons?

Answer 1

Hint: Before solving this question, it is important to know the basic terms such as atomic number, mass number, neutrons, protons, electrons etc. There are two stable isotopes of carbon and there are three stable isotopes of oxygen.

Complete step by step answer:
Let’s understand the basic terminology: - Electrons, protons and neutrons are the subatomic particles. Electrons are the subatomic particle which carries a negative charge, while protons are the subatomic particle with a positive charge and neutrons are the subatomic particle which has no charge. Protons and neutrons both are present in the nucleus of the atom whereas electrons revolve around the nucleus.
- Atomic number is the number of protons present in the nucleus of every atom of that element.
- Mass number is the sum of protons and neutrons present in the nucleus of the atom. Protons and neutrons are collectively known as nucleons.
- An atom is overall neutral due to the presence of an equal number of positive and negative charges.
- And if the number of protons is greater than the number of electrons then the atom will have a positive charge, similarly if the number of electrons is greater than the number of protons the atom will have a negative charge.

Note: When two atoms of the same element have different numbers of neutrons and also have different masses. They are known as isotopes of that element. If we talk about isobars, these are those elements which have the same mass number but different atomic number.