Question

What are the numbers of the subatomic particles in tin?

Answer 1

To solve this question we first need to know what subatomic particles are. An atom is made up of various particles like neutrons, protons, and electrons. Nucleons are the particles that are present in atomic nuclei and contain protons and neutrons.

Complete answer:
We can say that the total number of subatomic particles in an atom is
total number of subatomic particles = p + e + n
To determine the number of subatomic particles in tin, we first need to determine its atomic number and atomic mass number.
The atomic number Z of an element can be defined as the number of protons that are present in the nucleus of every atom of that element.
The atomic mass number of an element is the total number of nucleons in an atom or the sum of protons and neutrons in an atom.
Now, the atomic number of tin (Sn) is 50. Hence it has 50 protons.
Now, the most stable and most abundant isotope of tin (Sn) is $^{120}Sn$, hence its mass number is 120.
The number of neutrons in an atom is the difference between the mass number and the atomic number of that atom.
number of neutrons = mass number - atomic number
So, the number of neutrons in the most stable isotope of tin (Sn) is
Number of neutrons = 120 - 50
Number of neutrons = 70
Now, in a neutral atom, i.e., when there is no charge on the atom, either negative or positive, the number of electrons in the atom is equal to the number of protons or the atomic number.
So, the number of electrons in the most stable isotope of tin (Sn) is 50.
Hence the total number of subatomic particles in the tin (Sn) is 170.

Note:
It should be noted that different isotopes of an atom have different numbers of total subatomic particles, as the number of neutrons in the atom changes, and hence the mass number changes.
The different isotopes of tin (Sn) and there total number of subatomic particles are:
$_{50}^{112}Sn$ = 162
$_{50}^{114}Sn$ = 164
$_{50}^{115}Sn$ = 165
$_{50}^{116}Sn$ = 166
$_{50}^{117}Sn$ = 167
$_{50}^{118}Sn$ = 168
$_{50}^{119}Sn$ = 169
$_{50}^{122}Sn$ = 172
$_{50}^{124}Sn$ = 174