Answer to Question #318857 in General Chemistry for miks

Question

1. How are electrons and protons similar? How are they different?
2. How are protons and neutrons similar? How are they different?

Answer 1

1. Electrons and protons are similar in that both are charged sub-atomic particles. There is an equal number of electrons and protons in the atoms of each element, which corresponds to the atomic number that has been assigned to the element.

Proton resides in the nucleus of the atom while electrons revolve around the fixed orbits known as shells. Electrons are negatively charged species while protons are positively charged entities.

2. Protons and neutrons are both resides in the nucleus of the atom. Although similar in mass, protons are positively charged, while neutrons have no charge. Therefore, the number of neutrons in an atom contributes significantly to its mass, but not to its charge.