Question

Please help!
Describe the charges of the particles in the atom and how charge is distributed within an atom.

Answer 1

some are negative some are postitvie some are neutral

Answer 2

Atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons.

Protons have positive overall charge.
Neutrons have zero overall charge.
Electrons have a negative fundamental charge.

Protons and neutrons are attracted to each other through a very short range force called the strong nuclear force. This means that they form a very small, dense structure called the nucleus. Nuclei are on the scale of femtometres.

\[1\text{ fm} = 10^{-15}\text{ m}\]

The positive nucleus attracts negative electrons, which orbit around it at distances on the scale of tenths of nanometres.

\[0.1\text{ nm} = 10^{-10}\text{ m}\]

So that means an atom is about 100,000 times bigger than a nucleus

Answer 3

By the way, the charge of the proton is
\[+1.6\times10^{-19}\text{ C}\]
and on the electron
\[-1.6\times10^{-19}\text{ C}\]

They are equal in magnitude, but have opposite signs.