Question

The ${\mathbf{nuclide}}^{\mathbf{14}}\mathbf{C}$contains (a) how many protons and (b) how many neutrons?

Short answer

1. There are6 protons in the ${\mathrm{nuclide}}^{14}\mathrm{C}$.
2. There are8 neutrons in the ${\mathrm{nuclide}}^{14}\mathrm{C}$.

Step-by-step solution

The given data

A carbon nuclide of mass number A = 14 is given.

Determine the concept of Rutherford scattering  

The atomic number of an atom is generally represented by the number of protons of an atom. Now, the number of neutrons can be calculated by the difference between the mass number and the number of protons or the atomic number.

The number of neutrons of an atom is as follows:

N = A - Z …… (i)

a) Calculate the number of protons

According to the concept, the number of protons can be given by the atomic number of carbon that is,

p = Z

= 6

Hence, the number of protons is 6 .

b) Calculate the number of neutrons

Using the given data in equation (i), determine the number of neutrons of the ${\mathrm{nuclide}}^{14}\mathrm{C}$is given as follows:

N = 14 - 6

= 8

Hence, the number of neutrons is 8 .