is it true an atom has no electric charge?

Question

true or false

Answer 1

yes, in an atom the number of electrons (negative charge) and the protons (positive charge) are equal thus making the atom neutral

Answer 2

Depends on the atom and where it is.

For example, Na and Cl are sodium and chlorine atoms. As ordinary table salt, NaCl, the two atoms are neutral, because the gap in the sodium electron shell is filled by the extra electron in the chlorine shell. So as salt, your answer is true; they are neutrally charged sodium and chlorine atoms.

But as salt water, we have Na+ and Cl -, two ions. Ions are a still atoms, but they are electrically imbalanced; so they have a charge (plus and minus in this case). Sodium has a plus charge because it has more protons than electrons. Chlorine is negatively charged because it has more electrons than protons. So the answer is false when they are in water.

Here's the definition of an atom. You will see that Na and Cl fit the definition as ions in water and as salt. Notice that the nucleus must be positive, but there is no specification that the surrounding electrons must exactly offset that positive core.

"A unit of matter, the smallest unit of an element, having all the characteristics of that element and consisting of a dense, central, positively charged nucleus surrounded by a system of electrons. The entire structure has an approximate diameter of 10-8 centimeter and characteristically remains undivided in chemical reactions except for limited removal, transfer, or exchange of certain electrons. " [See source.]

Answer 3

true..

a atom is electrically neutral.. this is because now we know every object contains atoms.. if the atoms were not electrically neutral then none of the particles would be stable.. and by the way you can make an atom negatively charge by injecting electrons and it can be made positively charged by removing electrons..