Question

Any particular element can always be identified by its _____.

atomic mass
number of neutrons
number of electrons
number of protons

Answer 1

Is there any that you know that we can eliminate right off the bat?

Answer 2

We can remove options A and C from the list c:

Answer 3

So that leaves you with b or d so which one do you think is the correct answer?

Answer 4

She offline ;/

Answer 5

Just give her a little bit to come back online.

Answer 6

what do u think it is

Answer 7

This sort of process of elimination doesn't really help them learn. You just tell them what it isn't and then you're asking them to guess between two remaining answers and at that point it's a 50-50 shot at getting it correct haha

So an element is made up of a certain number of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Remember- protons are positively charged, neutrons are neutral, and electrons are negatively charged.

Let's say an element has 8 protons. (This is oxygen by the way which you can tell from the periodic table).
So a normal oxygen would have 8 protons, 8 neutrons, and 8 electrons.

If we change the number of electrons, we're going to form ions. If we add an electron to an element, it'll become negatively charged. And similarly, if we take away an electron, it'll become positively charged.

If we change the number of neutrons, we're going to form isotopes. An isotope is the same element (so it has the same number of protons) but it has a different number of neutrons.

Answer 8

Eh, No offense to you AZ, but she is offline and thats alot of paragraphs for this question ;/

Answer 9

AZ just wait for her to come back online to give her more help.

Answer 10

To understand what atomic mass is, let's take a step back

It is what it sounds like. We're just talking about the mass of the element.
So the element is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons.

But what is the mass of a proton, neutron, or electron?

Since electrons are tiny, their mass is really close to 0. But protons and neutrons are larger so their mass plays a major role. And we define their mass as 1 amu.

So when we're trying to calculate the atomic mass, it's the average of all the different isotopes based on how common it is to find in nature

Answer 11

\(\color{#0cbb34}{\text{Originally Posted by}}\) @dontsaymyname
Eh, No offense to you AZ, but she is offline and thats alot of paragraphs for this question ;/
\(\color{#0cbb34}{\text{End of Quote}}\)

She can read it when she comes back online.
This is the basic foundation of all of chemistry so a detailed explanation is necessary so she can understand the concepts. Otherwise, not only will she struggle to answer this question but all the following questions

Answer 12

Ohhh makes sense, ty c:

Answer 13

\(\color{#0cbb34}{\text{Originally Posted by}}\) @snowflake0531
\(\color{#0cbb34}{\text{Originally Posted by}}\) @AZ
\(\color{#0cbb34}{\text{Originally Posted by}}\) @dontsaymyname
Eh, No offense to you AZ, but she is offline and thats alot of paragraphs for this question ;/
\(\color{#0cbb34}{\text{End of Quote}}\)

She can read it when she comes back online.
This is the basic foundation of all of chemistry so a detailed explanation is necessary so she can understand the concepts. Otherwise, not only will she struggle to answer this question but all the following questions
\(\color{#0cbb34}{\text{End of Quote}}\)

i don't think that she really cares lol, *sky18, if she just went offline after asking
\(\color{#0cbb34}{\text{End of Quote}}\)
LOLOL frfr, unless she already got the answer or decided to guess ;/

Answer 14

She asked the same question yesterday and she didn't get a helpful response so I would wager that she cares :)

Answer 15

@AZ Howie said it doesn't matter. We're not doing a direct answer right? When I go back to the rules it doesn't say. “Explain how you got your answer” Or am I wrong @dontsaymyname @AZ ?

Answer 16

Az's answer was more helpful than just eliminating two off the bat. It could have been shortened but they were obviously just trying to make sure that the user can understand the question. That being said there is nothing wrong with short explanations that get the point across. Nor is there anything wrong with process of elimination (if you explain to them why it is being eliminated / work through it with them)
There are multiple ways to help a user, people may all help differently. What matters is that they get help and hopefully learn a bit along the way c:

Answer 17

^ As long as it isn't a direct answer, in which you would tell them the answer and then "explain" why it is. That's not accepted, it's the only way of helping that isn't accepted.