Question

is it possible for atoms of oxygen to have anything other than 8 protons in the nucleus ? why or why not

Answer 1

No, an oxygen atom cannot contain more than 8 protons.

Step-by-step explanation:

An oxygen atom is described as an atom with 8 protons found in the nucleus (atom weight of 16).

If hypothetically, an oxygen atom contained 9 protons, it would no longer be considered an "oxygen" atom. Once an oxygen atom has 9 protons it is considered a "fluorine" atom.