Question

What does it mean to say that the protons give the atom is identity

Answer 1

All elements are classified based on the atomic number (see more below)

Step-by-step explanation:

In the periodic table, all atoms are named depending on the number of protons. For example, any element with an atomic number (no. of protons) of six is named as carbon, nonetheless of the number of neutrons or electrons. This applies to other elements like aluminum (atomic number 13) and copper (atomic number 29). While the amount of electrons simply changes the atomic charge (positive or negative ions), the amount of neutrons will merely change the isotope.

Answer 2

The number of protons tells you what element an atom is. Just knowing the number of neutrons/mass number does not tell you what element an atom is, since atoms of the same element can have different mass numbers. But all atoms with the same number of protons, are also always of the same element.

Hence, we can identify an atom by the number of protons it has