Mass number and Atomic number

Mass number and Atomic number


The mass number of an element is the total number of protons and neutrons found in the nucleus, in other words the total number of nucleons. The mass number can also be called atomic mass or nucleon number. The mass number of an element is different for every isotope of that element, as isotopes are atoms of an element with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons.
The mass number is different from the atomic number, the atomic number is the number of protons found in the nucleus. The atomic number identifies an element, because no two elements have the same number of protons. On modern periodic tables, elements are classified according to their atomic numbers. So from this we can see that to calculate the number of neutrons in an element, we can simply subtract the atomic number from the mass number;
#neutrons = Mass number - atomic number



Citations:

  • “Log in to Kognity.” Kognity, asoy.kognity.com/study/app/chemistry-sl-fe-2016/atomic-structure/nuclear-atom/atomic-structure/.
  • MonkeySee. “What Is An Atom?” YouTube, YouTube, 13 Nov. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-3I1JGW-Ck.

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