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QuestionChemistry

How many neutrons are in a chlorine atom?
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Answer

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Step 1:
I'll solve this problem step by step, following the specified LaTeX formatting guidelines:

Step 2:
: Identify the Atomic Number and Mass Number of Chlorine

- From the periodic table, chlorine (Cl) has: - Atomic number (number of protons) = 17 - Average atomic mass ≈ 35.45 u (unified atomic mass units)

Step 3:
: Calculate the Number of Neutrons

- Number of neutrons = Mass number - Atomic number - Mass number can be rounded to 35 or 37 (the two most common isotopes)

Step 4:
: Calculate Neutrons for the Most Common Isotope

- For chlorine-35 ($$^{35}_{17}Cl$$):
\text{Neutrons} = 35 - 17 = 18

Step 5:
: Calculate Neutrons for the Second Common Isotope

- For chlorine-37 ($$^{37}_{17}Cl$$):
\text{Neutrons} = 37 - 17 = 20

Final Answer

The most common isotopes are chlorine- 35 (18 neutrons) and chlorine- 37 (20 neutrons).