Question

Which statement about this atom is false? 17 P and 18 N: Use the Periodic Table to help you. (This is a chlorine atom; the atom has an overall charge of 0; Th atomic number of this atom is 18; the mass of the atom is 35 AMU)

Answer 1

To evaluate the statements about the atom with 17 protons (P) and 18 neutrons (N):

1. **This is a chlorine atom.**
**True.** Chlorine has an atomic number of 17, which is the number of protons.

2. **The atom has an overall charge of 0.**
**True.** An atom with 17 protons and 17 electrons (to balance the 17 positive charges from protons) will have a charge of 0.

3. **The atomic number of this atom is 18.**
**False.** The atomic number of an atom is defined by the number of protons. This atom has 17 protons, so its atomic number is 17, not 18.

4. **The mass of the atom is 35 AMU.**
**True.** The atomic mass can be approximated by adding the number of protons and neutrons. In this case, 17 protons + 18 neutrons = 35, which corresponds to an atomic mass of approximately 35 atomic mass units (AMU).

Therefore, the false statement is: **The atomic number of this atom is 18.**