I dont understand protons, neutrons and electrons in an atom and what they do?
i am really confused, i dont undertsand what protons and neutrons and ions are in an atom? and with the positive and negative ions in each electron :S? i am really confused and i really would like if someone could explain this process to me, please.
Hi! So basically, look at a diagram of an atom, the stuff in the middle are called the nucleus, which contains the protons (contains positive charge) and neutrons (contains negative charge). The number of the protons equals the atomic number and the number of the neutrons equals the number of protons as the protons and neutrons have to cancel themselves out (like in math, for example, -3 + (+3) = 0) so they emit neither a positive or negative charge, so they remain stable. The balls that are on the rings around the nucleus are electrons and you can calculate how many of them by subtracting the atomic number from the atomic mass. Hope I helped! :) Good luck! (I learnt this the day before yesterday in Chemistry :P)
I thought neutrons were neutral and electron had negative charge? Because a proton's charge is +1, a neutron's charge is 0, and an electron's charge is -1?
Protons, neutrons and electrons are the tiny little particles which all atoms are made of. Protons (p+) have a + charge, electrons, (e-),have a - charge and neutrons (n) don't have any charge.
Protons and neutrons are the same mass but electrons are very much smaller - almost no mass at all. In any atom the protons and the neutrons are clustered together like a bunch of grapes in the centre - they make up the nucleus of the atom.
The electrons are well separated from the nucleus - most of us think of them as whizzing in orbits around the nucleus. We call these orbits shells.
In an ordinary atom, there are the same number of electrons as there are protons - so the atom has no overall charge, since the number of + charges is balanced by the number of - charges.
But sometimes an atom can lose electrons - so it becomes a positive ion, because there are now more + than -. Some atoms can gain extra electrons, becoming negative ions (more - than +).
I like chemistry and don't find it too difficult but that's because I have a great teacher. Do you have a good teacher? I think the teacher can make all the difference.
Atoms were particles of elements, substances that could not be broken down further:
These atoms are made up of three sub-atomic particles:
> Electrons, Protons and Neutrons
These particles have different properties.
1. Electrons are tiny, very light particles that have a negative electrical charge (-).
2. Protons are much larger and heavier than electrons and have the opposite charge, protons have a positive charge(+) .
3. Neutrons are large and heavy like protons, however neutrons have no electrical charge.
Each atom is made up of a combination of these particles.
> Protons and neutrons are located at the centre of the atom and this center part is called Nucleus.
> The proton and electron have opposite electrical charges that attract each other.
What keeps the two from crashing into each other? The particles in an atom are not still.
The electron is constantly spinning around the center of the atom (called the nucleus).
The centrigugal force of the spinning electron keeps the two particles from coming into contact with each other much as the earth's rotation keeps it from plunging into the sun.
> An atom is called electrically neutral as atom of an element has equal number of protons and neutrons.
Atoms, however, can have electrical charges.
Some atoms can either gain or lose electrons (the number of protons never changes in an atom).
If an atom gains electrons, the atom becomes negatively charged.
If the atom loses electrons, the atom becomes positively charged (because the number of positively charged protons will exceed the number of electrons).
An atom that carries an electrical charge is called an ion.
(I would say just keep it simple and make it clear, don't just try defining it in a new way evrerytime when you want to revise it. You may just get stuck between words.)
Sadly some of the Eva's tutorials stuff is not quite accurate. Basically sound but the centrifugal bit about electrons is wide of the mark.* Presumably this is a GCSE level question. Don't worry about why the electrons don't "crash and burn". It is good that you are thinking about this. At A-level, you will find that the whole "electrons in an orbit" idea gets improved.
* Imagine you were the first person to see a magnet lift something upwards and so defy gravity. You would have been amazed. Now, we don't get excited because we know about magnets. If you go on to study science at a higher level, you will learn about other kinds of forces that can explain why electrons do their thing.
hello,so happy when i saw this, only cause ive just finished all my 1's :D
anyway, so in an atom, there protons, neutrons and electrons.
protons have a charge of +1
neutrons have a charge of 0 (the name helps to remember)
electrons have a charge of -1
The (tiny)Nucleus contains Protons and neutrons while the electrons are around the edge
The NUCLEUS has an overall positive charge, because of the protons having a charge of +1 and the neutrons having no charge.
The electrons are negatively charged (-1, they move around the Nucleus.
One suggestion to help with the understanding is to draw diagrams and pictures alongside the words. It is a bit like the start of a book when there are new characters being introduced....you need to know about the characters before you can understand the stories that are going to come later.
Basically, in a nucleas of a atom (the middle) it has protons ( these are postively charged and have a atomic mass of 1, the amount of protons depend on the element) and there are neutrons also in the nucleas ( these are neutral as suggested by its name, they have a atomic mass of 1) and outside the nucleas are electrons, which orbit the nucleas in a certain pattern(u dont need to know the pattern at all) it orbits it because positive and negative attract, but the attraction isnt so strong that it will be close like the neutron and proton, the atom has electronic shells(that hold the electrons and cause them to orbit in a pattern) and the electronic shells contain electrons whihc are negatively charged and have a atomic mass of 'small' compared to neutron and proton, its VERY small i think about 100 electrons can fit into 1 proton (or 1000 not sure) and electrons basically determine what element it is, now protons and electrons always are the same in a element that has not reacted yet, just the element, so proton=electron so its neutral. The number of Electrons are different for each element. On the periodic table there are 2 number next to the elements, the number at the top is called the atomic mass, and this is the mass of the element, how much neutrons and protons in the element, the bottom number is the atomic number which is the number of protons (remember number of protons = number of electrons in a elemnent) ONLY! so to find the number of neutrons subtract the big number (always the mass number) by the smaller number (always the atomic number), atomic mass-atomic number= number of neutrons
Hello, soon i have an Combustion exam at university and i really dont have a clue about any of the questions can any one help with a useful website whats great for learning combustion?
i am really confused, i dont undertsand what protons and neutrons and ions are in an atom? and with the positive and negative ions in each electron :S? i am really confused and i really would like if someone could explain this process to me, please.
Hi! So basically, look at a diagram of an atom, the stuff in the middle are called the nucleus, which contains the protons (contains positive charge) and neutrons (contains negative charge). The number of the protons equals the atomic number and the number of the neutrons equals the number of protons as the protons and neutrons have to cancel themselves out (like in math, for example, -3 + (+3) = 0) so they emit neither a positive or negative charge, so they remain stable. The balls that are on the rings around the nucleus are electrons and you can calculate how many of them by subtracting the atomic number from the atomic mass. Hope I helped! :) Good luck! (I learnt this the day before yesterday in Chemistry :P)
I thought neutrons were neutral and electron had negative charge? Because a proton's charge is +1, a neutron's charge is 0, and an electron's charge is -1?
Protons, neutrons and electrons are the tiny little particles which all atoms are made of. Protons (p+) have a + charge, electrons, (e-),have a - charge and neutrons (n) don't have any charge.
Protons and neutrons are the same mass but electrons are very much smaller - almost no mass at all. In any atom the protons and the neutrons are clustered together like a bunch of grapes in the centre - they make up the nucleus of the atom.
The electrons are well separated from the nucleus - most of us think of them as whizzing in orbits around the nucleus. We call these orbits shells.
In an ordinary atom, there are the same number of electrons as there are protons - so the atom has no overall charge, since the number of + charges is balanced by the number of - charges.
But sometimes an atom can lose electrons - so it becomes a positive ion, because there are now more + than -. Some atoms can gain extra electrons, becoming negative ions (more - than +).
Sorry I was a bit slow coming back to this thread. Good to see that there have been two good replies. I hope they helped.
I like chemistry and don't find it too difficult but that's because I have a great teacher. Do you have a good teacher? I think the teacher can make all the difference.
Personally, I LOVE Chemistry, but sadly, I just can't keep up with all the calculations and formulas, but without them - what's chemistry?! LOL xD
Atoms were particles of elements, substances that could not be broken down further:
These atoms are made up of three sub-atomic particles:
> Electrons, Protons and Neutrons
These particles have different properties.
1. Electrons are tiny, very light particles that have a negative electrical charge (-).
2. Protons are much larger and heavier than electrons and have the opposite charge, protons have a positive charge(+) .
3. Neutrons are large and heavy like protons, however neutrons have no electrical charge.
Each atom is made up of a combination of these particles.
> Protons and neutrons are located at the centre of the atom and this center part is called Nucleus.
> The proton and electron have opposite electrical charges that attract each other.
What keeps the two from crashing into each other? The particles in an atom are not still.
The electron is constantly spinning around the center of the atom (called the nucleus).
The centrigugal force of the spinning electron keeps the two particles from coming into contact with each other much as the earth's rotation keeps it from plunging into the sun.
> An atom is called electrically neutral as atom of an element has equal number of protons and neutrons.
Atoms, however, can have electrical charges.
Some atoms can either gain or lose electrons (the number of protons never changes in an atom).
If an atom gains electrons, the atom becomes negatively charged.
If the atom loses electrons, the atom becomes positively charged (because the number of positively charged protons will exceed the number of electrons).
An atom that carries an electrical charge is called an ion.
(I would say just keep it simple and make it clear, don't just try defining it in a new way evrerytime when you want to revise it. You may just get stuck between words.)
Good luck
Eva's Tutorials
Where Hardwork Becomes Smartwork..!
Sadly some of the Eva's tutorials stuff is not quite accurate. Basically sound but the centrifugal bit about electrons is wide of the mark.* Presumably this is a GCSE level question. Don't worry about why the electrons don't "crash and burn". It is good that you are thinking about this. At A-level, you will find that the whole "electrons in an orbit" idea gets improved.
* Imagine you were the first person to see a magnet lift something upwards and so defy gravity. You would have been amazed. Now, we don't get excited because we know about magnets. If you go on to study science at a higher level, you will learn about other kinds of forces that can explain why electrons do their thing.
hello,so happy when i saw this, only cause ive just finished all my 1's :D
anyway, so in an atom, there protons, neutrons and electrons.
protons have a charge of +1
neutrons have a charge of 0 (the name helps to remember)
electrons have a charge of -1
The (tiny)Nucleus contains Protons and neutrons while the electrons are around the edge
The NUCLEUS has an overall positive charge, because of the protons having a charge of +1 and the neutrons having no charge.
The electrons are negatively charged (-1, they move around the Nucleus.
Sorry, I haven't been on here for a while and missed this thread. Nerd4Life has given a good answer, thanks!
Thank you! no problem :)
One suggestion to help with the understanding is to draw diagrams and pictures alongside the words. It is a bit like the start of a book when there are new characters being introduced....you need to know about the characters before you can understand the stories that are going to come later.
Basically, in a nucleas of a atom (the middle) it has protons ( these are postively charged and have a atomic mass of 1, the amount of protons depend on the element) and there are neutrons also in the nucleas ( these are neutral as suggested by its name, they have a atomic mass of 1) and outside the nucleas are electrons, which orbit the nucleas in a certain pattern(u dont need to know the pattern at all) it orbits it because positive and negative attract, but the attraction isnt so strong that it will be close like the neutron and proton, the atom has electronic shells(that hold the electrons and cause them to orbit in a pattern) and the electronic shells contain electrons whihc are negatively charged and have a atomic mass of 'small' compared to neutron and proton, its VERY small i think about 100 electrons can fit into 1 proton (or 1000 not sure) and electrons basically determine what element it is, now protons and electrons always are the same in a element that has not reacted yet, just the element, so proton=electron so its neutral. The number of Electrons are different for each element. On the periodic table there are 2 number next to the elements, the number at the top is called the atomic mass, and this is the mass of the element, how much neutrons and protons in the element, the bottom number is the atomic number which is the number of protons (remember number of protons = number of electrons in a elemnent) ONLY! so to find the number of neutrons subtract the big number (always the mass number) by the smaller number (always the atomic number), atomic mass-atomic number= number of neutrons
Hope this helps :)
Hello, soon i have an Combustion exam at university and i really dont have a clue about any of the questions can any one help with a useful website whats great for learning combustion?
Thanks