The last thing you should know about the basic structure of an atom is that atoms have the same number of protons and electrons, and since protons are positively charged and electrons are negatively charged, neutral atoms have no net electrical charge.

 

    Example

 

    The atomic number of a certain element is 11, and its atomic mass number is 23. How many protons and neutrons does this atom have, and what is its chemical symbol?

 

 

    If the atomic number is 11, this element is sodium and its symbol is Na. If the atomic mass number is 23, the number of neutrons is equal to 23 - 11 = 12.

 

 

    The day of the SAT II Chemistry exam, you will be given a periodic table to use while answering the questions. However, this periodic table will most likely be much simpler than the ones you use in class or have seen in your chemistry text. It will give you only two pieces of for each element: the element’s atomic number and the element’s atomic weight, which is written below the element’s symbol in each box. The atomic weight of an element represents its average atomic mass based on the relative abundance of various isotopes of that element in nature. So, when we say that the atomic weight of carbon is 12.0107, we mean that the average weights of all of the isotopes of carbon that exist in nature, whether the carbon is carbon-11, -12, -13, or -14, is 12.0107.

 

    But what does it mean to say that the isotopes “weigh” 12.0107? 12.0107 what? Certainly not grams, or the isotopes would be a lot bigger than they are. Atomic weights have the unit amu, or atomic mass unit, and one atomic mass unit is equal to 1.6605410^-24 g.