389,453 views
14 votes
14 votes
Does the orbiting nucleus of an atom have a positive, negative, or neutral charge

User Luna
by
2.7k points

2 Answers

12 votes
12 votes

An atom consists of a positively charged nucleus, surrounded by one or more negatively charged particles called electrons. The positive charges equal the negative charges, so the atom has no overall charge; it is electrically neutral. I hope this helped.

User Troutinator
by
2.9k points
10 votes
10 votes

Answer:

Step-by-step explanation:

If you look at an atom as a whole, it is electrically neutral and possesses no overall charge. The nucleus consists of Protons and neutrons, Protons have a positive charge and neutrons have no charge on them.

Hence, the nucleus of an atom is positively charged and is generally surrounded by one or more electrons.

The electrons on the other hand have a negative charge on them.

The sign convention for proton (+1), neutron(0) and electron(-1). The nucleus is very heavy but is very small compared to the overall size of an atom.

User Priyank Gandhi
by
2.7k points