Multiple Choice
The chemical characteristics or reactivity of an element depend mostly on the:
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2. Atoms & Elements
The Atom
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The atomic number of sulfur is 16. This indicates that a sulfur atom contains:
A
8 protons and 8 neutrons
B
16 electrons and 16 neutrons
C
16 protons
D
16 neutrons
Verified step by step guidance1
Understand that the atomic number of an element represents the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom of that element.
Recall that sulfur has an atomic number of 16, which means every sulfur atom contains 16 protons.
Recognize that in a neutral atom, the number of electrons equals the number of protons, so sulfur also has 16 electrons.
Note that the number of neutrons is not given by the atomic number; it is found by subtracting the atomic number from the atomic mass (which is not provided here).
Conclude that the correct statement based on the atomic number alone is that sulfur contains 16 protons.
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