The Charge of Particles
- A neutral atom contains the same number of electrons as the protons.
- The positive and negative charges of the protons and electrons respectively neutralise each other, for example, (+4) + (-4) = 0
- If the number of protons is greater than the number of electrons, the particle is positively charged.
- If the number of protons is greater than the number of electrons, the particle is positively charged.
Example:
| Number of protons | Number of electrons | Charge |
3 | 3 | 0 |
5 | 2 | +3 |
9 | 10 | -1 |
11 | 10 | +3 |
16 | 18 | -2 |
17 | 18 | -1 |
20 | 18 | +3 |