Question
Question: What is the total charge of the nucleus of a carbon atom?...
What is the total charge of the nucleus of a carbon atom?
Solution
Carbon word comes from the Latin word ‘carbo’ which means ‘coal’. Carbon exists in many allotropic forms some of them are diamond, graphite, buckminsterfullerene or buckyball, amorphous carbon, single-walled carbon molecule. Carbon atoms belong to the 14th group and 2nd period of the periodic table and have a symbol as C.
Complete answer:
The nucleus is the region in an atom where the whole mass is concentrated; it is present in the center of the atom; the particles inside the nucleus are held strongly by nuclear force which is the strongest short-range force.
The atomic number is the total count of protons present in the nucleus. The carbon nucleus contains a total of 6 protons every proton has a charge of +1. The nucleus also contains 6neutrons but as neutrons do not have any charge on them they do not contribute to the total charge present in the nucleus.
Thus, the carbon atom has a total charge of +6 in the nucleus.
Note:
Total count of proton and neutron is defined as atomic mass, the mass of proton and neutron are the same. Thus, the mass of carbon atoms comes to be 12. As an electron has a negligible mass, it does not contribute to the mass of an atom.