Can atoms have less neutrons than protons?

Only two stable nuclides have fewer neutrons than protons: hydrogen-1 and helium-3.

Why are there more protons than neutrons?

The reason is that protons, being charged particles, repel each other. As you get to heavier elements, with each new proton you add, there is a larger repulsive force. As the nuclei get larger, the neutron well gets deeper as compared to the proton well and you get more neutrons than protons.

Do you have to have the same number of protons as neutrons in an atom Why or why not?

REMEMBER: Atoms of the same chemical element do not always have the same mass because, although the number of protons in the nucleus is the same for all atoms of the same element, the number of neutrons is not. Most elements as they occur naturally on earth are mixtures of several isotopes.

What is an atom with less neutrons?

There is only one stable atom that does not have neutrons. It is an isotope of the element hydrogen called protium. Protium, which contains a single proton and a single electron, is the simplest atom. All other stable atoms contain some number of neutrons.

What happens if an atom loses a neutron?

If an atom were to gain or lose neutrons it becomes an isotope. If it gains a neutron it become an isotope called deuterium. Since the atomic mass is the total of the number of protons and neutrons, an isotope would have a different atomic mass, but the same atomic number as the original atom.

What atom has more protons than neutrons?

According to Wikipedia: Other than protium (ordinary hydrogen), helium-3 is the only stable isotope of any element with more protons than neutrons.

Do atoms have more protons than electrons?

An atom can acquire a positive charge or a negative charge depending on whether the number of electrons in an atom is greater or less then the number of protons in the atom. If it has more protons than electrons,it is a positive ion.

Why is a proton lighter than a neutron?

the differences between the proton (udu) and neutron (udd) is that the has neutron’s second down quark is heavier than the proton’s second up quark. So the greater mass of this down quark gives the neutron a greater mass than the proton.

Why must each atom of an element always have the same number of protons?

The proton number is always the same as the atomic number for the element. The protons and neutrons are found in the nucleus of the of the atom and make up the major it of the mass of the atom. In order for the atom to remain electrically neutral the protons and electrons must balance each other.

Do atoms always have the same number of protons and electrons?

Atoms do not always contain the same number of electrons and protons, although this state is common. When an atom has an equal number of electrons and protons, it has an equal number of negative electric charges (the electrons) and positive electric charges (the protons).

Do all elements have the same number of protons and neutrons?

No. Even if you leave apart the trivial case of hydrogen, which has one proton and no neutrons, 3 H e, 7 B e, 11 C and 13 N isotopes have more protons than neutrons. But, except Helium-3, they are all unstable. Think not. An atom of a certain element may very well have a wide range in its number of neutrons.

What does it mean for a neutron to be in an atom?

Specifically, being in an atom means that the neutron’s half life can be made much shorter, or much, much longer. In the context of this post, you can think of a neutron as an atom with 1 neutron and 0 protons. By decaying into a proton, the proton and neutron stacks come slightly closer to being in balance.

What happens when the energy of proton and neutron levels are unequal?

In a stable atom the energy in the proton stack will be about the same as the energy in the neutron stack. If they’re unequal, then a neutron will turn into a proton (decay), or a proton will turn into a neutron (decay) to even out the levels. The greater the difference the sooner the decay, and the more radioactive the atom.

Is it possible for an atom to have more energy than protons?

But it won’t stay that way very long. Nuclear systems will evolve to the lowest-energy state (if possible!) and more protons means more electric repulsion energy so higher energy. Hence the nuclei of such atoms will undergo some sort of nuclear process (like positron emission) in order to get rid of the excess protons.