A nitride ion is written in nuclide notation, with its charge shown beside the chemical symbol. The three negative charges mean the atom has gained three el...
Question 1 Report
A nitride ion is written in nuclide notation, with its charge shown beside the chemical symbol. The three negative charges mean the atom has gained three electrons compared with the neutral atom. How many electrons does this nitride ion contain in total?
Answer Details
The nuclide notation shows nitrogen with a proton number of 7 and a nucleon number of 14. The superscript \(3-\) tells you this is a nitride ion with three extra negative charges, meaning the atom has gained three electrons beyond its neutral state.
A neutral nitrogen atom has 7 protons and therefore 7 electrons. When it gains 3 electrons to form the \(\text{N}^{3-}\) ion:
\[ \text{electrons in ion} = 7 + 3 = 10 \]
A negative ion (anion) always has more electrons than protons. The gain of electrons gives the ion its negative charge because the total negative charge from electrons now exceeds the total positive charge from protons.
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