Question
(b) Explain why an atom has no overall charge. Use the relative electrical charges of sub-atomic particles in your explanation.
Answer
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(202 Votes)
Milton
Master · Tutor for 5 years
Answer
Countervailing the positive charge of protons and negative charge of electrons within the atom, the sum renders a neutral, overall charge for an atom, on condition that proton number is equivalent to electron number, paving way for the mastery that in general, atoms do not present with an overall electrical charge.
Explanation
Just as in the previous example, an atom is made up of three types of subatomic particles - protons, neutrons and electrons. The protons, contained within the atom's nucleus, possess a positive electric charge. This is offset by the charge of the electrons, which occupy the "shell" around the nucleus and have a negative charge. Neutrons, which also reside in the nucleus along with protons, don't carry any charge and remain neutral. Hence, when we sum up the total charge within an atom, the positive charges of the protons and the negative charges of the electrons effectively cancel each other out, leaving an overall charge of zero. This wells explains why atoms hold no overall charge, unless involving incidents where electrons are either lost or gained, yielding then positively or negatively charged ions.