The characteristic that gives an element its distinctive properties is its number of protons because the number of protons of any element represents its atomic number.
<h3>What is the atomic number?</h3>
The total number of protons present in an atom is known as the atomic number of that atom. The atomic number has no correlation either with the number of neutrons or the number of electrons present inside an atom.
Since the number of protons in any element corresponds to its atomic number, this property provides an element with its particular features.
Learn more about the atomic number from here,
brainly.com/question/14190064
#SPJ4