Question

How many electrons are in an isotope of nitrogen with 8 neutrons?

Answer 1

As we know that the electrons are the negatively charged species revolving around the nucleus of an atom in a circular orbit. The number of electrons, number of protons and the atomic number of the atom are related to each other.

Complete step by step answer:
The nitrogen is the chemical element which is represented by the symbol N. The atomic number of nitrogen is 7.
The isotopes are defined as the species of the same chemical element which contains the same atomic number but different mass number.
The number of protons in the nucleus of the atom is equal to the atomic number (Z). The mass number of the atom is defined as the sum of the number of protons and neutrons present in the nucleus.
The number of neutrons present in the nucleus is equal to the difference between the mass number of atom (M) and the atomic number (Z).
The number of neutrons is calculated by equation as shown below.
$Number\;of\;neutron = mass\;number - atomic\;number$
Here, we have given that the number of neutrons present in the isotope of nitrogen is 8.
The atomic number represents the number of electrons present in the chemical element, so the number of electrons present in the isotope of the nitrogen with 8 neutrons is 7.
So, the mass number of the nitrogen isotope is $\Rightarrow 7 + 8 = 15$.

Therefore, the 7 electrons are present in an isotope of nitrogen with 8 neutrons.

Note: Different isotopes of the same chemical element have different numbers of neutrons. As the mass number of nitrogen isotopes is 15 and the atomic number is 7. So the isotope will be ${}^{15}N$