Question

carbon and silicon are located in group 14 (4a) on the periodic table. how are carbon and silicon different? carbon has an atomic mass of 6, and silicon has an atomic mass of 14. carbon has 2 shells of electrons, and silicon has 3 shells of electrons. carbon has 12 electrons, and silicon has 28 electrons. carbon has 14 protons, and silicon has 28 protons.

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze atomic mass

Atomic mass of carbon is approximately 12, not 6. Atomic mass of silicon is approximately 28.1, not 14. So the first option is wrong.

Step2: Analyze electron - shell number

Carbon (atomic number \(Z = 6\)) has electron configuration \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{2}\), so it has 2 electron shells. Silicon (\(Z=14\)) has electron configuration \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{2}\), so it has 3 electron shells.

Step3: Analyze electron number

Carbon (\(Z = 6\)) has 6 electrons (in a neutral atom, number of electrons = number of protons = atomic number). Silicon (\(Z = 14\)) has 14 electrons. So the third option is wrong.

Step4: Analyze proton number

Carbon (\(Z = 6\)) has 6 protons. Silicon (\(Z=14\)) has 14 protons. So the fourth option is wrong.

Answer:

Carbon has 2 shells of electrons, and silicon has 3 shells of electrons.