Question

Describe how the atomic and mass numbers change. (* Neutron-to-proton ratio) Drag the appropriate labels to their respective targets. Note: not all labels will be used.

Answer 1

Answer:

The respective figure with label and targets is missing but yet the definitions and stability considerations can help you, so I explain them below.

Explanation:

Remember these definitions:

• Atomic number = number of protons

• Mass number = number of protons + number of neutrons

Hence,

• When one proton is added, both atomic number and mass number increase by one.

• When one neutron is added, atomic number remains the same, but mass number increase.

The neutrons provide stability to the nucleus of the atom by compensating the electrostatic repulsion force that arise from the fact that positive charges are forced to be so close in the nucleus.

Since the more protons are added to the nucleus the stronger the repulsive force inside the nucleus are, as the atomic number increase the neutron number must increase too.

For the ligther elements (lower atomic and mass numbers) the ratio of neutrons to protons is very close to 1.

For heavier elements (greater atomic and mass numbers) the ratio of neutrons to protons increase: proportionally more neutrons are needed to provide stability to the nucleus.