Given the representation of a chlorine atom as 35Cl , how many neutrons are present in this atom?

• A. 17
• B. 52
• C. 18
• D. 35

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the atomic number (Z) and the mass number (A) from the given notation. For the chlorine atom represented as \(^{35}\mathrm{Cl}\), the mass number \(A\) is 35, and the atomic number \(Z\) (number of protons) is 17, which is the number below the element symbol in the periodic table.
2. Recall that the number of neutrons (\(N\)) in an atom is given by the difference between the mass number and the atomic number: \(N = A - Z\).
3. Substitute the known values into the formula: \(N = 35 - 17\).
4. Calculate the difference to find the number of neutrons in the chlorine atom.
5. Interpret the result as the total number of neutrons present in the given chlorine isotope.