Question

What is the particle that determines the identity of an element?

Answer 1

The number of protons contained in the nucleus of every atom of a chemical element is known as the atomic number or proton number (symbol Z). A chemical element's atomic number is used to identify it. It's the same number as the nucleus' charge number. The atomic number and the number of electrons in an uncharged atom are the same.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
A proton is a subatomic particle with the sign p or p+ with a mass slightly less than a neutron. It has a positive electric charge of +1e elementary charge and a mass slightly less than a neutron. Protons and neutrons, each with a mass of around one atomic mass unit, are referred to together as "nucleons" (particles present in atomic nuclei). Every atom has one or more protons in its nucleus; they are an essential component of the nucleus. The atomic number refers to the number of protons in the nucleus, which is the distinguishing feature of an element (represented by the symbol Z). Because each element has a different amount of protons, it has a different atomic number.
An element is a pure material made up entirely of atoms with the same number of protons in their atomic nuclei, as defined by chemistry. Chemical elements, unlike chemical compounds, cannot be broken down chemically into simpler molecules. The atomic number (represented by the symbol Z) is the defining feature of an element; all atoms with the same atomic number are atoms of the same element.
Hence protons is the correct answer.

Note:
Chemical elements make up the entirety of the universe's baryonic stuff. Atoms are rearranged into new compounds bound together by chemical bonds when various elements undergo chemical reactions. Only a few elements, such as silver and gold, may be found in reasonably pure native element minerals uncombined. Almost all other naturally occurring elements exist as compounds or combinations in the Earth.