Sunday, August 14, 2011

If the most common isotope of scandium has 24 neutrons in its nucleus, how many protons does scandium have?

All atoms of Scandium, regardless of its isotope, must have 21 protons in its nucleus, by definition of what a chemical element is. If an atom of Scandium had any other proton count (also known as its atomic number), it would be an atom of another element.

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