The smallest particle of an element that retains the  chemical identity of that element is a/an?
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This is a homework question & better not be one of my students! LOL\n\nThe answer is atom.\n\nClassic textbook question. For those of you who thought the question was confusing, take it up w/ the authors of high school textbooks. I will gladly back you up on it. LOL\n\n:)
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atoms of positive charge are lighter than negative.
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well, since there is only one element that can form a tri-atom (Iodine) I would say monoatomic elements would be the opposite, but this is a very ill-defined question.
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I'm not directly giving you the answers, you have to know how to do this stuff, but I'll give you the process to get to each.\n\n9: Americium and Curium (wikipedia!)\n\n10: Potassium ion wants to be like the noble gas closest to it (the one right before it), so it loses 1e- to get there and be K+.  If that's not a choice, then look for another ion, positive or negative, that adds up to the electronic configuration of the aforementioned noble gas. (1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6), 18 total e-'s...\n\n11: Mg is in column 2, things in the same period tend to be chemically similar.  Find the other one in the choices that's in that column\n\n12: U235 and U238 are isotopes, same atomic number, different weight.  If you change the number of protons, you change the atomic number, so that wouldn't be U anymore.  Changing electrons can make ions, but not change weight.  So different number of neutrons for the same element makes an isotope.\n\n13: Same explanation as above, it'll also be Hydrogen's atomic number because it's an isotope.\n\n14: shell 2 contains the 2s and 2p subshells.  2s can hold 2 because it's an s orbital.  2p can hold 2 per p orbital, and a p subshell has 3 p orbitals, so 6.  Total would then be...\n\n15: If an atom loses electrons, it's LOSING -1 per electron lost, so it's becoming more positive.\n\n16: Which element in that list only has 1s shell? Which one has a  stable ion as just a proton or with a configuration like Helium (1s2)?\n\n17: Inert elements are on the far right of the periodic table.  They are inert because they have 8 valence (outer shell) electrons (or 2 in Helium's case) so they can't take anymore and are stable.  Look at your periodic table or count up electrons for each of those atomic numbers.  Only one of them will have 8 in the outer shell...
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An atom is the smallest divisible partical that can exist on its own. Its divisibble because it contains three subatomical particals known as protons, neurons, and electrons while an element is a substance that cannot be split into two or more substance like the periodic table has a list of different elements, so examples of elements are those on the periodic table and atoms make up matter.
356826
In chemistry, a molecule is an aggregate of at least two atoms in a definite arrangement held together by special forces.[1] Generally, a molecule is considered the smallest particle of a pure chemical substance that still retains its composition and chemical properties.[2] In the molecular sciences, a molecule is a sufficiently stable, electrically neutral entity composed of two or more atoms.[3] The concept of "monatomic molecule", i.e. a single-atom as found in noble gases, is used almost exclusively in the kinetic theory of gases.[4] Polyatomic ions may sometimes be usefully thought of as electrically-charged molecules.\n\nSee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecules for more information.
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neutrons\n\nIsotopes have to have the same numbers of protons\nor they'd be different elements.  Since the\nelectrons match up with the protons, the electron\ncount is consistent too.
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In Greek atomic theory, the atom was considered the smallest, indivisible, particle of matter.\nThey view atoms as the basic building block of everything else, and all atoms were identical, different combinations of how they were put together determined the properties of the substance.\n\nOf course, we now know that atoms themselves are made up of smaller, sub-atomic, particles, which are then intern made up of even smaller particles.  Atoms are the smallest particles of a given element which will exibit the properties of that element.  Different elements, and thus different types of atoms, exist.  So the Greeks were not correct in that respect.
32912
b) has the smallest mass
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B. electron\n\nis the right answer.
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K, Na, Li, Be ... its already arranged from largest to smallest atomic radius. \n\nFor Potassium, Sodium and Lithium, they belong to the same group, so size increases from top to bottom. Lithium being on the top of the other is the smallest. \n\nBeryllium is on the right of Lithium, so it has one proton extra than Lithium but the number of shell is the same so its nucleus pulls the outer electronic shell with more force, hence its atomic radius is even smaller than Lithium.
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They are just one electron away from achieving an octet.  So they require lower energy to lose this electron in a reaction.
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lose\n\nLook at your periodic table.  Ithose on the left two columns lose.  Those in the last two prior to the noble gases gain.  The others can do either but generally speaking if they have less than 4 valence electrons they lose and if the have more than 4 they gain.  If they have four such as Carbon and silicon, they can do either.  This makes for some very neat chemistry for those elements.
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When the nucei of elements form, they are more or less stable combinations of protons and neutrons.  Unstable groupings decay usually in microseconds, or dont form at all.  For any given element, there is usually more than one stable number of neutrons for any given number of protons (the number of protons determine which element it is, the total number of protons and neutrons determine the molecular weight, and thus the isotope).  Often, one type of isotope is much much more stable or more energetically easy to form than others.  So, for example, usually oxygen has 8 protons and 8 neutrons-but sometimes it has 9 neutrons.  During the original formation process, which for larger elements usually occur during a violent nova or supernova explosion of a star, there are lots of free protons and neutrons, or naked nuclei of smaller atoms, being energetically smashed together.  So, just by chance, most will be the most stable or most easly formed nuclei, but a few will be slightly different.
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Protons is the atom's atomic number.  It gives the atom its certain "chemical properties".  The proton has a weight of 1.  The neutron is a combination of a proton and electron roughly as evidenced by storing a neutron for more then 15 min and it will turn into a hydrogen atom.  For all intensive purposes the electron has no weight.  The neutron weighs 1 as well. When you combine the numbers of protons and neutrons in an atom you get the weight.  The neutrons act as glue for the atom and help keep it together.  Thus Uranium 235 is more unstable then Uranium 238. (235 is what they use in reactors).  The electron is attracted to the proton. Electron(-) proton (+).  But as you get towards the left section of the table you have atoms that want to lose their electrons since the want full orbitals.  As you get toward the right side of the table you get atoms that want to gain electrons to fill their shells.  These atoms that have a positive charge are known as cations longer word = positive. Shorter word or Ion = negative.
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Hydrogen.  To be more specific, the H1 isotope.  The deuterium or H2 atom is only one in eight thousand of all hydrogen atoms.\nThe second most common element, helium, is less than 10%.  All others together are a minor component, no matter how important to us.
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A chemical substance is any material substance used in or obtained by a process in chemistry. It can be an element, a compound, or a mixture thereof:\n\nA chemical element is a substance that cannot be divided or changed into different substances by ordinary chemical methods. The smallest particle of such an element is an atom, which consists of electrons centered about an nucleus of protons and neutrons. \nA chemical compound is a substance consisting of two or more chemical elements that are chemically combined in fixed proportions. \nA molecule is the smallest particle of an element or compound that retains the chemical characteristics of the element or compound. \nAn ion is an atom or group of atoms with a net electric charge, having lost (cation) or gained (anion) an electron. \nThe term "chemical" may refer to any chemical substance, though a popular meaning is "a product of the chemical industry". As such the term may carry connotations of being "unnatural" and perhaps harmful, even when such fears are unjustified, as with the dihydrogen monoxide hoax. \nRetrieved