Saturday, April 13, 2013

Why is an atom electrically neutral?

An atom consists of three kinds of particles: electrons,
protons and neutrons. Now the neutrons do not have any electrical charge on them and are
therefore electrically neutral.


Protons have a positive
charge that is usually expressed as +1 though in terms of coulombs it is + 1.602*10^-19.
The electron has a negative charge that is expressed as -1 and in terms of coulombs is
equal to -1.602*10^-19.


A neutral atom has the same number
of electrons as the number of protons in it. Therefore the net charge in an atom is
equal to zero. This makes an atom electrically neutral.

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