{"id":187622,"date":"2025-02-05T15:20:32","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T15:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=187622"},"modified":"2025-02-05T15:20:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T15:20:34","slug":"a-lithium-atom-has-3-protons-3-electrons-and-3-neutrons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/05\/a-lithium-atom-has-3-protons-3-electrons-and-3-neutrons\/","title":{"rendered":"A lithium atom has 3 protons, 3 electrons, and 3 neutrons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A lithium atom has 3 protons, 3 electrons, and 3 neutrons. Match the term that applies to each of the following combinations from this term list. impossible, not lithium, lithium ion, isotope of lithium <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 protons, 2 electrons, 3 neutrons <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 protons, 3 electrons, 4 neutrons <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4 protons, 3 electrons, 3 neutrons <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 protons, 3 electrons, 5 neutrons<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Correct Answer and Explanation is :<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the correct matches for each combination:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. 3 protons, 2 electrons, 3 neutrons \u2192 Lithium ion<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. 3 protons, 3 electrons, 4 neutrons \u2192 Isotope of lithium<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. 4 protons, 3 electrons, 3 neutrons \u2192 Not lithium<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. 3 protons, 3 electrons, 5 neutrons \u2192 Isotope of lithium<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Explanation:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Understanding Atomic Structure:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • The number of protons<\/strong> in an atom determines the element. Lithium has 3 protons<\/strong> in its nucleus.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Neutrons<\/strong> contribute to atomic mass but do not change the element itself.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Electrons<\/strong> determine charge: a neutral lithium atom has 3 electrons<\/strong>, but losing or gaining electrons creates an ion<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Different numbers of neutrons create isotopes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Answer Breakdown:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. 3 protons, 2 electrons, 3 neutrons \u2192 Lithium ion<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • This atom has lost one electron<\/strong>, giving it a +1 charge<\/strong> (Li\u207a).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • It is still lithium because the number of protons remains 3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          1. 3 protons, 3 electrons, 4 neutrons \u2192 Isotope of lithium<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • A typical lithium atom has 3 neutrons, but this one has 4.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Since only the neutron count changed, this is an isotope<\/strong> of lithium (Lithium-7, Li-7).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                \n
              1. 4 protons, 3 electrons, 3 neutrons \u2192 Not lithium<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                  \n
                • The number of protons determines the element.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • An atom with 4 protons is beryllium (Be)<\/strong>, not lithium.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                    \n
                  1. 3 protons, 3 electrons, 5 neutrons \u2192 Isotope of lithium<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                      \n
                    • This is lithium because it has 3 protons<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • With 5 neutrons<\/strong>, it’s another isotope of lithium (Lithium-8, Li-8).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                      This demonstrates how protons define the element, electrons affect charge, and neutrons determine isotopes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      A lithium atom has 3 protons, 3 electrons, and 3 neutrons. Match the term that applies to each of the following combinations from this term list. impossible, not lithium, lithium ion, isotope of lithium 3 protons, 2 electrons, 3 neutrons 3 protons, 3 electrons, 4 neutrons 4 protons, 3 electrons, 3 neutrons 3 protons, 3 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187622\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}