What determines the chemical properties of an atom?

What determines the chemical properties of an atom?

A neutral atom has an equal number of protons and electrons so that the positive and negative charges exactly balance. Since it is the electrons that determine how one atom interacts with another, in the end it is the number of protons in the nucleus that determines the chemical properties of an atom.

What determines the chemical properties of an atom quizlet?

The chemical properties of an element, are determined by the number of protons in the nucleus. This number of protons is called the atomic number. The mass of the atom, its atomic mass, depends upon the sum of the number of protons and the number of neutrons present in the nucleus.

What part of the atom determines the chemical properties or reactivity?

The number of protons in the nucleus determines which element it is. However, the number of electrons in the outer shell, i.e. the number of valence electrons, determines the chemical reactions that the element can participate in.

Which property determines the chemical reactivity of an element?

The number of electrons in the outermost shell of an atom determines its reactivity.

What determines the type of atom?

The primary sub-atomic particle is the proton, because the number of protons inside an atom determines which type of atom it is. For example, all atoms that have 8 protons in the nucleus are oxygen atoms. All atoms that have 6 protons are carbon atoms.

What determines the chemical element?

An element is defined by its number of protons. Varying the number of neutrons will change the isotope of an element and varying the number of electrons will create an ion, but changing the number of protons changes the identity of the element itself.

How do electrons determine the chemical behavior of an atom?

Electrons located in the outermost shell of the electron cloud are called “valence electrons” and have the highest energy. Valence electrons determine the chemical properties of an element, or how the valence electrons of one element are shared or traded with valence electrons of other elements to create new molecules.

What is an element determined by?

number of protons An element is defined by its number of protons. Varying the number of neutrons will change the isotope of an element and varying the number of electrons will create an ion, but changing the number of protons changes the identity of the element itself.

What do protons determine about an atom?

Protons contribute to the mass of an atom and provide the positive charge to the nucleus. The number of protons also determines the identity of the element. Electrons have a negative charge. Since the atom is electrically neutral, the number of electrons must equal the number of protons.

How do protons determine the chemical properties of an atom?

The number of protons will determine the number of the electrons present. This electron will determine the chemical properties of the element. The chemical properties of an atom will depend on the number of valence electrons present. Depending on the valence electrons, the atom will form positive or negative ions.

What determines chemical reactivity?

The number of electrons in the outermost shell of an atom determines its reactivity. Noble gases have low reactivity because they have full electron shells. Halogens are highly reactive because they readily gain an electron to fill their outermost shell.

Do protons determine chemical properties?

The number of protons along with the neutrons will help to determine the mass number of the chemical element. The number of protons will determine the number of the electrons present. This electron will determine the chemical properties of the element.

Does electron configuration determine chemical properties?

This allows us to determine which orbitals are occupied by electrons in each atom. The specific arrangement of electrons in orbitals of an atom determines many of the chemical properties of that atom.

How does an atom react chemically depends?

How an atom reacts chemically depends on how willing it is to share electrons with others.

What determines an element’s identity?

The identity of an element is determined by the number of protons. One cannot alter the number of protons without altering the identity of the element. By adding a proton, the atomic number increases by one and the element identity changes. Number of neutrons can be altered to create isotopes.

Why do electrons determine properties of an atom?

The number of protons will determine the number of the electrons present. This electron will determine the chemical properties of the element. The chemical properties of an atom will depend on the number of valence electrons present. Depending on the valence electrons, the atom will form positive or negative ions.

Why do electrons determine the chemical behavior of an atom?

The electrons in the energy levels with the highest number are, on average, the farthest from the nucleus. Because differences in electrons located in the outermost level distinguish an atom from its nearest noble gas, these are the electrons responsible for the atom's chemical behavior.

Why do electrons determine the properties of an atom?

The number of protons will determine the number of the electrons present. This electron will determine the chemical properties of the element. The chemical properties of an atom will depend on the number of valence electrons present. Depending on the valence electrons, the atom will form positive or negative ions.

What is the most important thing in determining the identity of an atom?

1 Answer. The proton determines the identity of an element.