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Chapter 5: Problem 27

Why can't sodium gain a positive charge by acquiring a proton in its nucleus?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Sodium can't gain a positive charge by acquiring a proton as it would change sodium's identity into another element, specifically magnesium, due to the increase in the atomic number. Additionally, such a process would require a nuclear reaction, and would likely create an unstable atom due to the disrupted balance of protons to electrons.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Atomic Structure

An atom consists of a nucleus, which contains protons and neutrons, and electrons which orbit the nucleus. The charge of the atom is determined by the number of protons (which are positively charged) and electrons (which are negatively charged). The number of protons defines the atomic number of the element and thus, can't be changed without changing the identity of the atom itself.
02

Sodium atomic structure and stability

Sodium (Na) is the chemical element with the atomic number 11, meaning it has 11 protons in its nucleus. Sodium has 1 valence electron in its outer shell. To reach a stable condition, sodium prefers to lose this electron, forming Na+ ion, rather than gaining another proton in its nucleus.
03

Why Sodium can't gain a proton

Adding a proton to a sodium nucleus would change the atomic number from 11 to 12. This would actually transform the sodium atom into a magnesium atom, which isn't possible under normal chemical reactions. The process needed to add a proton to an atom's nucleus is a nuclear reaction, not a simple chemical process. In addition, this would disrupt the atom's balance of protons to electrons, likely making it unstable.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

What does a metal atom need to do in order to form a cation?

Identify and name the cations and anions that make up the following ionic compounds and indicate the charge on each ion. \begin{equation} \begin{array}{ll}{\text { a. } \mathrm{NaNO}_{3}} & {\text { c. }\left(\mathrm{NH}_{4}\right)_{2} \mathrm{CrO}_{4}} \\ {\text { b. } \mathrm{K}_{2} \mathrm{SO}_{3}} & {\text { d. } \mathrm{Al}_{2}\left(\mathrm{SO}_{4}\right)_{3}}\end{array} \end{equation}

Name the following polyatomic ions. \begin{equation} \begin{array}{ll}{\text { a. } \mathrm{O}_{2}^{2-}} & {\text { c. } \mathrm{NH}_{4}^{+}} \\ {\text { b. } \mathrm{CrO}_{4}^{2-}} & {\text { d. } \mathrm{CO}_{3}^{2-}}\end{array} \end{equation}

Compound B has lower melting and boiling points than compound A does. At the same temperature, compound \(\mathrm{B}\) vaporizes faster and to a greater extent than compound A. If only one of these compounds is ionic, which one would you expect it to be? Why?

The electron configuration for arsenic, As, is \([\mathrm{Ar}] 3 d^{10} 4 s^{2} 4 p^{3} .\) How many valence electrons does an As atom have? Write the symbol for the ion it forms to achieve a noble-gas configuration.
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