Question

A student who was looking at Figure 1 raised their hand and asked, “How do we know what element this is?" What should they look at in Figure 1 to identify the element represented?

Options

The number of neutrons



The number of protons



The number of electrons in the outer shell



The total number of subatomic particles in the atom

Answer 1

To identify the element represented in Figure 1, the student should look at **the number of protons**. The number of protons in an atom determines its atomic number, which uniquely identifies the element in the periodic table. Therefore, the correct option is:

**The number of protons**.