Final answer:
A sodium (Na) atom that loses 3 electrons will have a net charge of +3, as it normally has 11 protons and would then only have 8 electrons.
Step-by-step explanation:
If a sodium (Na) atom loses 3 electrons, it will have a net charge of +3. This is because the atomic charge can be calculated as the number of protons minus the number of electrons. Normally, a sodium atom has 11 protons and 11 electrons, making it uncharged.
However, if it loses 3 electrons, it will then have 11 protons and only 8 electrons, which makes the charge +3 (11 - 8 = 3). Sodium ions are typically found with a +1 charge, as sodium more commonly loses just one electron from its outer shell, resulting in a sodium cation (Na+).
A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol
p, H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 e (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton-to-electron mass ratio). Protons and neutrons, each with masses of approximately one atomic mass unit, are jointly referred to as "nucleons" (particles present in atomic nuclei).