Join the IDNLearn.com community and start finding the answers you need today. Our community is here to provide detailed and trustworthy answers to any questions you may have.

Explain why the mass number of an oxygen atom represented as [tex]^{16}_{8}\text{O}[/tex] is 16.

You should refer to the numbers of sub-atomic particles in the nucleus of the atom.


Sagot :

Final answer:

The mass number of an oxygen atom is determined by the total number of protons and neutrons in its nucleus, with oxygen-16 having 8 protons and 8 neutrons for a total mass number of 16.


Explanation:

The mass number of an oxygen atom, represented as ^16O, is 16 because it is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the atom. In this case, oxygen-16 (^16O) has 8 protons and 8 neutrons, totaling 16 nucleons.


Learn more about Mass Numbers of Atoms here:

https://brainly.com/question/44276873