A balloon, initially neutral, is rubbed with fur until it acquires a net charge of \(-0.60 \mathrm{nC} .\) (a) Assuming that only electrons are transferred, were electrons removed from the balloon or added to it? (b) How many electrons were transferred?

The net charge on the initially neutral balloon is negative, which means it has gained extra electrons. Therefore, electrons are added to the balloon. Now, we will move on to part (b) of the exercise - calculating the number of electrons transferred.

To find the number of electrons transferred, we'll use the formula: Number of electrons transferred = \(\frac{Q}{e}\), where \(Q\) is the net charge on the balloon, and \(e\) is the charge of a single electron (\(-1.6 \times 10^{-19} \text{C}\)). First, we'll convert the given net charge from nC to C: \(Q = -0.60 \text{nC} = -0.60 \times 10^{-9} \text{C}\) Now, we'll plug in the values of \(Q\) and \(e\) into the formula: Number of electrons transferred = \(\frac{-0.60 \times 10^{-9} \text{C}}{-1.6 \times 10^{-19} \text{C}}\) Number of electrons transferred = \(3.75 \times 10^{9}\) We should round it to the nearest whole number since we can't have a fraction of an electron: Number of electrons transferred ≈ \(3.75 \times 10^{9}\) Hence, approximately \(3.75 \times 10^{9}\) electrons were added to the balloon.