Calcium how many protons

Explanation: Assuming that we are referring to a stable atom of calcium, we need to find the atomic number of calcium. Related questions What periodic table elements are radioactive? How can the periodic table be used to predict the properties of the elements? How can elements have different isotopes?

How can elements be broken down? How can elements properties be predicted? What is a chemical element? The number of electrons and the number of protons are always the same, unless the element is given another charge. The atomic mass, the number at the bottom, is the sum of the number of protons and the number of neutrons.

Just subtract the number of protons, 20 in this case, from the rounded number of the mass. Changing the number of neutrons will change the element to another version of itself, called an isotope.

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Updated April 24, The number of protons found in the nucleus of calcium is the same as its atomic number: How to Find the Neutrons in the Periodic Table. These two forces compete, leading to various stability of nuclei. There are only certain combinations of neutrons and protons, which forms stable nuclei. Neutrons stabilize the nucleus , because they attract each other and protons , which helps offset the electrical repulsion between protons.

As a result, as the number of protons increases, an increasing ratio of neutrons to protons is needed to form a stable nucleus. If there are too many or too few neutrons for a given number of protons, the resulting nucleus is not stable and it undergoes radioactive decay. Unstable isotopes decay through various radioactive decay pathways, most commonly alpha decay, beta decay, or electron capture.

Many other rare types of decay, such as spontaneous fission or neutron emission are known. It should be noted that all of these decay pathways may be accompanied by the subsequent emission of gamma radiation.

Pure alpha or beta decays are very rare. The periodic table is a tabular display of the chemical elements organized on the basis of their atomic numbers, electron configurations, and chemical properties. The electron configuration is the distribution of electrons of an atom or molecule or other physical structure in atomic or molecular orbitals.

Knowledge of the electron configuration of different atoms is useful in understanding the structure of the periodic table of elements. Every solid, liquid, gas, and plasma is composed of neutral or ionized atoms. The chemical properties of the atom are determined by the number of protons, in fact, by number and arrangement of electrons. It is the Pauli exclusion principle that requires the electrons in an atom to occupy different energy levels instead of them all condensing in the ground state.

This fact has key implications for the building up of the periodic table of elements. The first two columns on the left side of the periodic table are where the s subshells are being occupied.

Because of this, the first two rows of the periodic table are labeled the s block. Similarly, the p block are the right-most six columns of the periodic table, the d block is the middle 10 columns of the periodic table, while the f block is the column section that is normally depicted as detached from the main body of the periodic table.

It could be part of the main body, but then the periodic table would be rather long and cumbersome. For atoms with many electrons, this notation can become lengthy and so an abbreviated notation is used. The electron configuration can be visualized as the core electrons, equivalent to the noble gas of the preceding period, and the valence electrons e. Oxidation states are typically represented by integers which may be positive, zero, or negative. Most elements have more than one possible oxidation state.

An element that is not combined with any other different elements has an oxidation state of 0.