Subatomic particles

There are three types of subatomic particles in an atom: protons, electrons, and neutrons.

Comparison

	Mass (g)	Mass (amu)	Relative Charge	Located
Proton	1.673 x 10-24	1	+1	at the center of the atom in the nucleus
Electron	9.110 x 10-28	1/1835	-1	outside the nucleus
Neutron	1.675 x 10-24	1	0	at the center of the atom in the nucleus

Proton

The number of protons:

1. determines the identity of an element
2. is also known as the atomic number of the atom

The periodic table of elements displays the atomic number of each element.

Electron

Since each proton carries a +1 charge, there must be an equal number of electrons in the atom, as each electron carries a -1 charge.

Neutron

In most cases atoms of a given element have different mass. The general symbol to describe an atom of an element has the following format.

A = mass number E = symbol of the element Z = atomic number	or Sometimes Z is omitted because if the symbol of the element is known, including the atomic number becomes redundant.

In order to determine the number of neutrons present in the nucleus of an atom of an element, we must know the mass number of the element.

Since the number of protons = atomic number, it follows that

The number of neutrons in the nucleus of an atom is

Take a look at ³⁵Cl and ⁴⁰Ca and see if you can figure out how I arrived at:

• # of protons,
• # of neutrons,
• # of electrons, and
• mass #, the mass number.

	# of protons	# of neutrons	# of electrons	mass #
	17	35-17 = 18	17	35
	20	40-20 = 20	20	40

Let's try figuring out the number of fundamental particles for their ions, ³⁵Cl^-, and ⁴⁰Ca²⁺.

	# of protons	# of neutrons	# of electrons	mass #
	17	35-17 = 18	18	35
	20	40-20 = 20	18	40

The only change in the number of subatomic particles between the atom and its ion is in the number of electrons. The number of protons of a neutral atom and its ion is the same.

• ⁴⁰Ca and ⁴⁰Ca²⁺ both have 20 protons.
• ⁴⁰Ca has 20 electrons. ⁴⁰Ca²⁺ has 18 electrons.
• The +2 charge on ⁴⁰Ca²⁺ indicates that ⁴⁰Ca²⁺ has 2 less electrons than ⁴⁰Ca.

³⁵Cl^- and ⁴⁰Ca²⁺ have the same number of electrons. They are isoelectronic.

Content suitability

BCIT courses: CHEM 0011