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Carbon is an important element. It is the backbone for living organisms A Carbon atom has square protons, neutrons, and square electrons. square

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Carbon is an important element. It is the backbone for living organisms A Carbon atom has
square  protons,
neutrons, and square  electrons.
square

Carbon is an important element. It is the backbone for living organisms A Carbon atom has square protons, neutrons, and square electrons. square

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RogerProfessional · Tutor for 6 years

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A carbon atom has 6 protons, 6 neutrons, and 6 electrons.

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## Step 1:<br />An element is primarily defined by the number of protons in its nucleus. This is known as the atomic number. Each element has a unique atomic number.<br /><br />## Step 2:<br />For the element carbon (\(\text{C}\)), the atomic number is 6. This means that a carbon atom must have 6 protons.<br /><br />## Step 3:<br />In a neutral carbon atom, the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons. Therefore, a carbon atom has 6 electrons.<br /><br />## Step 4:<br />The most common isotope of carbon is carbon-12 (\(\text{C-12}\)). This isotope has a mass number of 12, which is the sum of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.<br /><br />## Step 5:<br />Given that a carbon-12 atom has 6 protons, the number of neutrons is calculated as follows:<br /><br />\[\text{Number of neutrons} = \text{Mass number} - \text{Number of protons}\]<br /><br />### \[\text{Number of neutrons} = 12 - 6 = 6\]<br /><br />#
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