A species that contains 16 protons, 17 neutrons, and 16 electrons would be represented by the symbol:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The symbol for an element contains the atomic number (number of protons) and the mass number (number of protons + neutrons). Therefore, the symbol for this species would be: 16 (atomic number) + 17 (neutrons) = 33. The element with atomic number 16 is sulfur (S), so the symbol would be "S33". The number of electrons in a neutral atom equals the number of protons, so this species would have 16 electrons. Therefore, the correct symbol would be "S-2" (the -2 indicating that the species has two more electrons than protons). None of the choices presented match this symbol, except for option E, which has the correct atomic number and element symbol.

A Species That Contains 16 Protons, 17 Neutrons, and 16