The nucleus of an atom consists of protons and neutrons (no electrons). A nucleu

Question

The nucleus of an atom consists of protons and neutrons (no electrons). A nucleus of a carbon-12 isotope contains six protons and six neutrons, while a nitrogen-14 nucleus comprises seven protons and seven neutrons. You perform a nuclear physics experiment in which you bombard nitrogen-14 nuclei with very high speed carbon-12 nuclei emerging from a particle accelerator. As a result of each such collision, the two nuclei disintegrate completely and a mix of different particles are emitted, including electrons, protons, antiprotons (with electric charge -e each), positrons (with charge +e each), and various neutral particles (including neutrons and neutrinos). For a particular collision you detect the emitted products and find 17 protons, 4 antiprotons, 9 positrons, and 24 neutral particles. How many electrons are also emitted? electrons

Explanation / Answer

Initially, there is a total charge of +13e (6 protons from carbon and 7 protons from nitrogen), which means there needs to be a total charge of +13e after the collision. Listed is 16 protons (+16e), 3 antiprotons (-3e), 8 positrons (+8e) and 16 neutral particles (0e), so the total charge listed is +21e, meaning an excess of +8e, meaning you need 8 electrons (-8e) to balance out the charge. Hope this helps.

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