How many electrons will be found in the nucleus of an atom with mass number 23 and 17 neutrons?

Answer Details

Electrons are not found in the nucleus of an atom. The nucleus of an atom only contains protons and neutrons, while electrons are located outside the nucleus in the electron cloud. The mass number of an atom is equal to the sum of the number of protons and the number of neutrons in the nucleus. Therefore, if an atom has a mass number of 23 and 17 neutrons, then the number of protons in the nucleus can be calculated as: Protons = Mass number - Neutrons Protons = 23 - 17 Protons = 6 This means that the nucleus of the atom contains 6 protons. The number of electrons in a neutral atom is equal to the number of protons, so the atom also contains 6 electrons in the electron cloud surrounding the nucleus. In summary, the answer is that there are 6 protons and 6 electrons in the atom.