This gave birth to the current accept model of the atom;
- Protons and neutrons in the center of the atom, while electrons orbit this center.
As we know, electrons have a negative charge, while protons have a positive charge.
The atomic/proton number, is the number of protons in an atom. This is determines what the element is. The number of electrons will be the same as the no. of protons, providing the atom is not an ion.
The atomic mass is the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Electrons have a negligible mass.
Mass number varies between atoms of the same element because of isotopes. This means that there is the same number of protons, but a different number of neutrons. The mass is an average of the isotopes of an element.
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