Question

Explain why the overall charge of all elements are neutral

Answer 1

I'll become a fan if u answer in 5 mins

Answer 2

Haha, I don't need to be bribed with fandom.. This isn't a bad question!

So, what are the charges in any element?

Answer 3

What particles?

Answer 4

Just think about that.. Hint: they have the same magnitude.

Another hint: how many of each are there?

Think about the significance of that, when you answer!

Answer 5

Protons are positive so they need to be canceled out by electrons (negative), neutrons are just there to help keep the protons together with nuclear force

Answer 6

Act of god! If it weren't for it, we would have nothing to make things you see around! Iron is stable and is the most important element among the others!

Heavy elements do like to be unstable; some of which decay into lighter ones as soon as they come into being.

Also note that neutrality doesn't bring about stability.

Answer 7

mostly all those elements which are naturally occuring they are always neutral,i strongly agrred with #Saeeddiscover.. if they would not neutral then they will combine to form several compounds.... it would be difficult for us to find them naturally occuring

Answer 8

So, all in all, the neutral charge is a "cancellation" of positive and negative charges. One proton for one electron. And we define all elements to each having the same number of protons, neutrons, and electrons. They lose some, sometimes, but then they're ions or isotopes.

Answer 9

What a tough problem! ... still a matter of opinion!

I think there's something the matter with @theEric. In nucleons, in general, one might happen to a case in which the number of protons is different from that of neutrons which in turn has nothing to do with the off-setting condition. There might be seen, usually in a typical stable nucleon with a mass number greater than 80, a gradually ever-increasing difference between the number of P and of N where the atom could be found neutral!

The other thing is that it is not a "cancellation" of a pair of particles, namely, electron and proton. Instead, it is an overall removal of the whole of existing particles constituting some-well known particles such as protons and neutrons. The proton contains quarks and, to a lesser extent, antiquarks (particles that are nearly identical to quarks), and gluons (particles that flit between quarks and hold-or glue—them together, providing the strong nuclear interaction forces between them). Three quarks join together to form a proton. The strong nuclear force is actually a force that attracts quarks to each other to make a proton or neutron. The quarks of a neutron or proton will also attract the quarks of another neutron or proton, thus holding a nucleus together.

I think that it is worth looking at proton itself. This particle is suggested to be stable. Protons originally formed about a thousandth of a second after the Big Bang, the explosion that scientists believe occurred at the beginning of the universe. In that short time, the temperature of the early universe dropped sufficiently for energetic quarks to join together. It is possible that protons may break up again, but this type of event, called proton decay, would be extremely rare. Experiments have shown that the average lifetime of the proton is at least 1035 years. This may appear to be an odd answer, since the age of the universe is only about 14 billion years. Scientists are constructing large experiments with thousands of tons of material, hoping to see a proton decay!

Answer 10

Haha, that's all true! I'm assuming that this is a lower level course, where the only principles taught are:
1. Atom is protons, neutrons, and electrons
2. Neutrons have no (net) charge
3. Protons have a positive (net) charge
4. Electrons have a negative charge
5. Protons and electrons have the same magnitude of charge
6. An element has the same number of neutrons, protons, and electrons
7. Atoms can differ in their number of neutrons, protons, and electrons

Answer 11

Haha! but the number 6 seems still incorrect! I'm assuming that you did get it!

Answer 12

And "overall charge" would mean the sum of the charge of the system, I think. That would mean we're considering the charge of the system, not electric field strengths anywhere.

I think it is probably incorrect. But it's the simplified model. I think elements are defined by the number of protons. But usually the smaller atoms have the property of number 6, right? And in a low-level course, you study only those.

Answer 13

This is as oversimplified as the question:
"Explain why the overall charge of \(\rm\color{red}{all}\) elements are neutral"

Answer 14

Yes, that property still holds for this case. In a low-level course you are usually given everything incomplete.

Answer 15

Yeah.. The lessons usually keep it simple. It's not really the best thing, but students can't absorb everything at once unless it's taught well and the student is interested in the lesson.
Unfortunately, the educational system is lacking... I'm not sure how much the class will go into the atomic structure theories.
This could also be a class to introduce concepts, but not go into detail.
I know my classes never mentioned quarks, even. Or the fact that electrons are leptons. There was some information on orbitals... But the high school and middle school classes lacked all this deep information.