17. An atom has a mass of 16 and 6 protons. What element is it, and how many neutrons are there?
Answer: C
The element is Carbon, and it has 10 neutrons.
The atom in question has a mass of 16 and 6 protons, which indicates it is Carbon with 10 neutrons, as the number of neutrons is calculated by subtracting the number of protons from the atomic mass.
A) Sulfur, 10
This option is incorrect because sulfur has an atomic number of 16, which means it has 16 protons. Therefore, it cannot have 6 protons as specified in the question.
B) Sulfur, 22
This option is also incorrect. Similar to option A, sulfur has 16 protons, and if it were to have a mass of 22, it would imply 6 neutrons; however, this does not align with the given 6 protons.
C) Carbon, 10
This option is correct. Carbon has an atomic number of 6, which means it has 6 protons. Given the mass of 16, it must have 10 neutrons (16 - 6 = 10), which matches the information provided.
D) Carbon, 22
This option is incorrect. While Carbon does have 6 protons, a mass of 22 would suggest it has 16 neutrons (22 - 6 = 16), which contradicts the mass given in the question.
Conclusion
The correct answer is C because it accurately identifies the element as Carbon, which has 6 protons and 10 neutrons based on the provided mass of 16. All other options misidentify the element or provide incorrect neutron counts, failing to align with the atomic structure described in the question.