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Oxygen is denoted as 16O8. How many protons and neutrons does an oxygen atom have?

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Oxygen-16 atomic number is 8 so it has 8 protons. Its atomic weight is 16 so 16-8 = 8 neutrons.

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User Paradigm
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Answer: The given element has 8 protons and 8 neutrons in it.

Step-by-step explanation:

General representation in writing an element is given by:
_(Z)^(A)\textrm{X}

where, X denotes the element

Z denotes the atomic number

A denotes the atomic mass

We know that:

Atomic number = Number of electrons = Number of protons

And, Atomic mass = Number of protons + Number of neutrons ....(1)

In the given element:
_8^(16)\textrm{O}

Z = 8 which means number of protons = 8

A = 16

Putting A = 16 in Equation 1, we get:

16 = 8 + Number of neutrons

Number of neutrons = 16 - 8 = 8

Hence, the given element has 8 protons and 8 neutrons in it.

User Geedew
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