Atomic number

The number of elementary positive charges (protons) contained within the nucleus of an atom. It is denoted by the letter Z. Correspondingly, it is also the number of planetary electrons in the neutral atom.

Relation to x-ray wavelengths

The concept of atomic number emerged from the work of G. Moseley, done in 1913–1914. Using a crystal of potassium ferrocyanide in the Bragg x-ray spectrometer, he measured the wavelengths of the most energetic rays (K and L lines) produced by using the elements calcium to zinc as targets in an x-ray tube. The square root of the frequency, √v of these x-rays increased by a constant amount in passing from one target to the next. These data, when extended, gave a linear plot of atomic number versus √v for all elements studied, using 13 as the atomic number for aluminum and 79 for that of gold. Further, when extrapolated, this plot predicted the atomic number of hydrogen to be 1 and that of uranium to be 92.

Moseley's atomic numbers were quickly recognized as providing an accurate sequence of the elements, which the chemical atomic weights had sometimes failed to do. For example, the elemental pairs argon-potassium, cobalt-nickel, tellurium-iron, which had appeared in the periodic table in the reverse order of their atomic weights, were shown in their correct order by their atomic numbers. Additionally, the atomic number sequence indicated the positions of elements that had not yet been discovered. Two examples were Z = 43 (technetium) and Z = 61 (promethium); both elements are unstable and were not correctly identified until they had been produced in nuclear reactions.

The atomic number not only identifies the chemical properties of an element but facilitates the description of other aspects of atoms and nuclei. Thus, atoms with the same atomic number are isotopes and belong to the same element, while nuclear reactions may alter the atomic number: in alpha decay, Z → Z − 2; in beta emission, Z → Z + 1; and in positron emission or K capture, Z → Z − 1.

Atomic and nuclear properties

When specifically written, the atomic number is placed as a subscript preceding the symbol of the element, while the mass number (A) precedes as a superscript, for example, ²⁷₁₃Al, ²³⁸₉₂U.