Question

An amoeba has 1.00x10

protons and a net charge of 0.300pC.
1) How many fewer electrons are there than protons?

Answer 1

The amoeba has 1.874 × 10⁶ fewer electrons than protons, and the fraction of protons with no electrons is 1.874 × 10⁻¹⁰.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find out how many fewer electrons there are than protons in the amoeba with a net charge of 0.300 pC and 1.00 × 10¹⁶ protons, we can use the known charge of a proton and the charge of an electron which are equal in magnitude but opposite in sign (± 1.602 × 10⁻¹⁹ C).

We first convert the net charge of the amoeba from picocoulombs to coulombs: 0.300 pC = 0.300 × 10⁻¹² C. The number of electrons fewer than protons can be calculated by dividing the net charge by the charge of a single electron (or proton).

± 1.602 × 10⁻¹⁹ C into 0.300 × 10⁻¹² C gives us 0.300 × 10⁻¹² C / 1.602 × 10⁻¹⁹ C/electron = 1.874 × 10⁶ fewer electrons.

To find the fraction of protons with no electrons, divide the number of fewer electrons by the total number of protons: 1.874 × 10⁶ / 1.00 × 10¹⁶ = 1.874 × 10⁻¹⁰, which is the fraction of protons without electrons.