Question

A carbon atom is composed of 6 protons, 6 neutrons, and 6 electrons. What is the net charge of this atom? A neutral chlorine atom contains 17 protons and 17 electrons. When a chlorine atom gains one extra electron, it becomes a chloride ion. What is the net charge of a chloride ion?

Short answer

The net charge of a carbon atom is$0$ .

The net charge of a chloride ion is $-1.6\times {10}^{-19}\text{\hspace{0.17em}C}$.

Step-by-step solution

Identification of given data 

The given data is listed below as:

• No of protons in carbon atom is,$\mathrm{a}=6$
• No of electron in carbon atom is,$\mathrm{b}=-6$
• No of neutron in carbon atom is6.
• No of electron in chlorine atom is,$\mathrm{c}=-17$
• No of proton in chlorine atom is,$\mathrm{d}=17$
• After gaining one electron, the no of electron in chlorine atom is,$\mathrm{e}=-18$

Significance of the net charge

The net charge of a system is the sum of the electrons and the protons of that system. Moreover, it is calculated by subtracting the negative charge from the positive charge.

Determination of net charge of carbon atom

The equation of the net charge of a carbon atom is expressed as:

$\mathrm{E}=\mathrm{a}+\mathrm{b}$

Here,$\mathrm{a}$ is the number of protons in a carbon atom and$\mathbf{b}$ is the number of electrons in a carbon atom.

Substitute the values in the above equation.

$\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{E}=6+(-6)\\ =0\end{array}$

Determination of net charge of chloride ion 

The equation of the net charge of the chloride ion is expressed as:

$\mathrm{F}=\mathrm{d}+\mathrm{e}$

Here,$\mathrm{d}$ is the number of protons in the chlorine atom and$\mathrm{e}$ is the number of electrons in the chlorine atom.

Substitute the values in the above equation.

$\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{F}=17+(-18)\\ =-1\end{array}$

Here,$-1$ is described as the charge of an electron that is$-1.6\times {10}^{-19}\text{\hspace{0.17em}C}$ .

Thus, the net charge of carbon atom is $0$, and the net charge of chloride ion is $-1.6\times {10}^{-19}\text{\hspace{0.17em}C}$.