Proton number and element identity
What Proton number and element identity means in Physics GCSE, as defined for OCR.
Definitions of Proton number and element identity
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Reference: OCR
The number of protons fixes which element the atom is, so the nucleus of each element has a characteristic positive charge.
Atoms of one element always share the same proton number, so keeping it fixed preserves the element's identity.
Topics that use Proton number and element identity
- Radioactive emissions (OCR GCSE)
Related terms
- Absorbing materials
- Alpha emission
- Beta emission
- conservation of charge
- conservation of mass number
- Conventional nuclear notation
- Electron energy levels
- Emission and absorption of electromagnetic radiation
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