All the electrons of an atom are
outside the nucleus We know that the number of these electrons outside
the nucleus of the atom is Z, the atomic number The total charge of the
Rationalised 2023-24
Physics
308
atomic electrons is thus (–Ze), and since the atom is neutral, the charge
of the nucleus is (+Ze) The number of protons in the nucleus of the atom
is, therefore, exactly Z, the atomic number