Question

: Lithium has an atomic number of 3, which means that it has 3 protons in its nucleus and 3 orbiting electrons. If it loses its outermost electron to another element, what will be the electrical charge?

Answer 1

+1

Step-by-step explanation:

An atom in the neutral state has the same number of protons and electrons. Since protons carry the positive charge and electrons carry negative charge of equal magnitude as that of protons, so, in neutral state the overall charge on the atom is zero.

Atomic number of Lithium is 3. Under neutral state it has 3 protons and 3 electrons. So, its overall electric charge is 0.

If an atom of Lithium loses one of its outermost electron, it is left with 2 electrons and 3 protons. Since, number of protons is 1 more than the number of electrons, the electrical charge on Lithium atom would be positive and the magnitude of charge will be equal to the number of electrons lost, which is 1 in this case. The magnitude can also be calculated as difference in the number of protons and electrons.

Therefore, on losing one electron, the electric charge on Lithium atom would be +1.