Video Transcript
Neon has an atomic number of
10. How many protons are there in an
atom of neon?
Neon is the name of an element to
be found on the periodic table of elements. It’s in group 18, otherwise known
as group eight, and period two. An atom is a nucleus surrounded by
an electron cloud. Inside the nucleus, we can find
protons and neutrons. So when the question asks, how many
protons are there in an atom of neon, we’re looking inside the nucleus.
The question also tells us that
neon, the element, has an atomic number of 10. We can see that in its cell on the
periodic table. The other number in the box,
20.180, is the atomic mass of neon. We don’t need that for this
question. The atomic number of an element is
the number of protons we can find in every atom or simple ion of that element. So all neon atoms or ions contain
10 protons in their nuclei. And we can even flip that around
and say all atoms or ions with 10 protons in their nuclei are neon. Therefore, we can say with
confidence that the number of protons in an atom of neon is 10.
