The diference between electrons and neutrons numbersin an natural nonmetal anion 31x3- is 2. What is the atomicnumber of x? chemistry

The given information is that the ion is 31X3- and the difference between the number of electrons and neutrons is 2.

1. An ion is an atom or molecule with a net electric charge due to the loss or gain of one or more electrons. In this case, the ion is 31X3-, which means it has gained 3 electrons.

2. The atomic mass (31) is the sum of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom.

3. The charge of the ion (-3) indicates the number of extra electrons the atom has gained.

4. Since the difference between the number of electrons and neutrons is 2, we can set up the following equation:

   Number of electrons - Number of neutrons = 2

5. We know that the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons plus 3 (because of the 3- charge), and that the number of protons plus the number of neutrons is 31 (because of the atomic mass).

6. Therefore, we can set up the following system of equations:

   Number of protons + 3 - Number of neutrons = 2 Number of protons + Number of neutrons = 31

7. Solving this system of equations, we find that the number of protons (which is the atomic number) is 16. Therefore, the atomic number of X is 16.