PhysicsCode 5054
The nucleus
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- Describe what the nucleus is built from, namely protons and neutrons
- Describe how an atom becomes a positive ion when it loses electrons, or a negative ion when it gains electrons
- Define two quantities, nucleon number (mass number) A and proton number (atomic number) Z, and use them to work out how many neutrons there are in a nucleus
- Explain what a nuclide is and apply the A ZX nuclide notation
- Explain the meaning of the word isotope, and state that it is possible for one element to have more than one isotope