How Many Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons Are in an Atom? -- Steps To Find Number of Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons
Follow these simple steps to find the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons for an atom of any element.
Get Basic Information About Elements
You'll need to gather basic information about the elements to find the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Fortunately, all you need is a periodic table.
For any atom, what you need to remember is:
Number of Protons = Atomic Number of the Element
Number of Electrons = Number of Protons
Number of Neutrons = Mass Number - Atomic Number
Find the Number of Protons
Each element is defined by the number of protons found in each of its atoms. No matter how many electrons or neutrons an atom has, the element is defined by its number of protons. The periodic table is arranged in order of increasing atomic number, so the number of protons is the element number. For hydrogen, the number of protons is 1. For zinc, the number of protons is 30.
Find the Number of Electrons
For a neutral atom, the number of electrons is the same as the number of protons.
Often, the number of protons and electrons is not the same, so the atom carries a net positive or negative charge. You can determine the number of electrons in an ion if you know its charge. A cation carries a positive charge and has more protons than electrons. An anion carries a negative charge and has more electrons than protons. Neutrons do not have a net electric charge, so the number of neutrons does not matter to the calculation.
The number of protons of an atom cannot change, so you add or subtract electrons to get the correct charge. If an ion has a 2+ charge, like Zn2+, this means there are two more protons than electrons.
30 - 2 = 28 electrons
If the ion has a 1- charge (simply written with a minus superscript), then there is more electron than the number of protons.
For F-, the number of protons (from the periodic table) is 9 and the number of electrons is:
9 + 1 = 10 electrons
Find the Number of Neutrons
To find the number of neutrons in an atom, you need to find the mass number for each element. The periodic table lists the atomic weight for each element, which can be used to find mass number, For hydrogen, for example, the atomic weight is 1.008. Each atom has an integer number of neutrons, but the periodic table gives a decimal value because it is a weighted average of the number of neutrons in the isotopes of each element. So, what you need to do is round the atomic weight to the nearest whole number to get a mass number for your calculations. For hydrogen, 1.008 is closer to 1 than 2, so let's call it 1.
Number of Neutrons = Mass Number - Number of Protons = 1 - 1 = 0
For zinc, the atomic weight is 65.39, so the mass number is closest to 65.
Number of Neutrons = 65 - 30 = 35
Get Basic Information About Elements
You'll need to gather basic information about the elements to find the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Fortunately, all you need is a periodic table.
For any atom, what you need to remember is:
Number of Protons = Atomic Number of the Element
Number of Electrons = Number of Protons
Number of Neutrons = Mass Number - Atomic Number
Find the Number of Protons
Each element is defined by the number of protons found in each of its atoms. No matter how many electrons or neutrons an atom has, the element is defined by its number of protons. The periodic table is arranged in order of increasing atomic number, so the number of protons is the element number. For hydrogen, the number of protons is 1. For zinc, the number of protons is 30.
Find the Number of Electrons
For a neutral atom, the number of electrons is the same as the number of protons.
Often, the number of protons and electrons is not the same, so the atom carries a net positive or negative charge. You can determine the number of electrons in an ion if you know its charge. A cation carries a positive charge and has more protons than electrons. An anion carries a negative charge and has more electrons than protons. Neutrons do not have a net electric charge, so the number of neutrons does not matter to the calculation.
The number of protons of an atom cannot change, so you add or subtract electrons to get the correct charge. If an ion has a 2+ charge, like Zn2+, this means there are two more protons than electrons.
30 - 2 = 28 electrons
If the ion has a 1- charge (simply written with a minus superscript), then there is more electron than the number of protons.
For F-, the number of protons (from the periodic table) is 9 and the number of electrons is:
9 + 1 = 10 electrons
Find the Number of Neutrons
To find the number of neutrons in an atom, you need to find the mass number for each element. The periodic table lists the atomic weight for each element, which can be used to find mass number, For hydrogen, for example, the atomic weight is 1.008. Each atom has an integer number of neutrons, but the periodic table gives a decimal value because it is a weighted average of the number of neutrons in the isotopes of each element. So, what you need to do is round the atomic weight to the nearest whole number to get a mass number for your calculations. For hydrogen, 1.008 is closer to 1 than 2, so let's call it 1.
Number of Neutrons = Mass Number - Number of Protons = 1 - 1 = 0
For zinc, the atomic weight is 65.39, so the mass number is closest to 65.
Number of Neutrons = 65 - 30 = 35
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