Question

How many neutrons does a standard hydrogen atom have in its nucleus?

Answer 1

The atomic number of hydrogen is 1. Hydrogen has a total three isotopes. They are protium, deuterium, and tritium. All the three isotopes have similar atomic numbers but they differ from each other by the mass number.

Complete step by step answer:
Hydrogen is the chemical element present in the periodic table which is represented by the symbol H. Hydrogen is the lightest element of all the chemical elements present in the periodic table. The atomic number of hydrogen is 1 and the standard atomic weight of the hydrogen is 1.008 which is obtained from the average mass of the three isotopes of the hydrogen.
The isotopes are defined as the species which contains the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. In other words, the isotopes are explained as those species which have the same atomic number but differ in their mass number.
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).
$Number\;of\;neutron = mass\;number - atomic\;number$
There are three isotopes of hydrogen:
(1) Protium ${}_1^1H$
(2) Deuterium ${}_1^2H$
(3) Tritium ${}_1^3H$
The number of neutrons in Protium is calculated as shown below.
$\Rightarrow Number\;of\;neutron = 1 - 1$
$\Rightarrow Number\;of\;neutron = 0$
The number of neutrons in deuterium is calculated as shown below.
$\Rightarrow Number\;of\;neutron = 2 - 1$
$\Rightarrow Number\;of\;neutron = 1$
The number of neutrons in tritium is calculated as shown below.
$\Rightarrow Number\;of\;neutron = 3 - 1$
$\Rightarrow Number\;of\;neutron = 2$
So, the number of neutrons in protium is 0, deuterium is 1 and tritium is 2.

Note:
The protium isotope is simply also known as hydrogen isotopes. The atomic number of the atom is equal to the number of protons. The mass number is the sum of protons and neutrons.