Someone help me to grasp how atoms differ only by number of nuclear patrticles?
Answer:
The number of protons in an atom determines what kind of element it is. This is because the number of protons, combined with the number of electrons (# protons = # electrons in normal atoms, the number of electrons varies if it's an ion) and the number of neutrons (which can vary, atoms with same # protons but different # neutrons are called "isotopes") affect its behavior and chemical properties.
The number of protons in an atom is called the atomic number. Hydrogen has one proton, it has an atomic number of 1. Helium has two protons, it has an atomic number of 2. Uranium has 92 protons, it has an atomic number of...well, you get the picture.
Hydrogen, helium, and uranium are different. They behave differently. Hydrogen is a reactive gas, helium is a nonreactive gas, and uranium is a radioactive metal you don't want to put near your crotch.
They are made up of the same three basic parts - protons, neutrons, and electrons. The only difference is how many of those parts there are.
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Different amount of particles make it so the atom has different amounts of energy and weight.
Nuclear partical in an atom means, electron(carry unit -ve charge), proton(carry unit +ve charge) and neutron(no charge).
Now different elements in the periodic table have different atomic number( like 1 for H, 2 for He etc), now an atom contains electron & protons inside equal to its atomic number.
This means For hydrogen atom (atomic no.=1), it contain 1 electron & 1 proton but no neutron. Similarly for He(helium atomic no = 2) it means it has 2 electron, 2 proton and 2 neutron.
Neutron are calculated... as Neutron= mass number - atomic number.
So finally we can conclude atoms differ in term of nuclear partical(electron,proton&neutr...
What makes you wonder so much?
ANY difference makes a difference whether it is big or small!
Have you heard that human genes are different from that of a chimpanzee by only 2%. And what difference does that make?
Strictly speaking, it is not just 'number of nuclear particles' but 'number of protons' that determine the atom.
Since the mass of electrons in an atom is negligible, the mass of atom is the mass of its nucleus.
Nucleus of the atom is basically made of: protons and neutrons (together called nucleons).
Protons are positively charged and neutrons are uncharged. Hence, the positive charge on an atom is determined by the charge of its nucleus.
In an atom with no charge, no. of protons = no. of electrons.
Now nucleons are held together by nuclear force and electrons are held together by nucleus by electrostatic forces. The nuclear force being 100 times stronger than electrostatic forces, so whenever an atom has to form molecules or any kind of bonds, basically, it uses the electrons (loses or accepts them).
Throughout chemical reactions (not nuclear reactions), the identity of the atom is maintained by its nucleus - by protons really because they have are the charged nuclear particles.
Eg., if an atom, say Cl combines with Na, then Na will lose an electron and Cl will gain an electron, thus they will complete their octet to become stable atoms. Now notice that when Na loses an electron, it becomes postively charged and when Cl gains an electron, it becomes negatively charged. Why is it so? Because the charge of nuclear protons is always constant in chemical reactions!
So it makes sense that protons should be used to define the atomic number. Imagine if Na had an extra proton. It would have an extra positive charge and would need an extra electron to neutralize. So if it wanted to attain the octet, it would have to lose 2 electrons. In fact, it is behaving like like Mg which has no. of protons = no. of protons in Na + 1.
To consider the mass of atom, keep in mind that neutrons will also come into play. Mass of atom = mass of neutrons + mass of protons in it (this isn't strictly true but you don't need to worry about that right now).
However, if you are asking only about how atoms differ, then it is by no. of protons.
For reference, mass of :
electron is 9.31 x 10E-31 kg
proton is 1. 672 x 10E-27 kg
neutron is 1.675 x 10E-27 kg
Given the fact that a He atom has 2 neutrons, 2 protons (4 nuclear particles) and 2 electrons, calculate the mass of He atom as: mass of (electron + nuclear particles) and mass of (nuclear particles) and observe for yourself how miniscule (hence, negligible) is the difference and how nuclear particles basically determine the identity of the atom.
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