In the field of chemistry and physics, the atomic number represents the total number of protons that each atom of that element contains. This number is symbolized by the letter Z. This letter in addition to this, the atomic number has the responsibility of determining the electronic configuration of the atom, in addition to allowing the sequence or order of the different chemical elements found in the periodic table.
This number is placed on the left side (as a subscript) of the corresponding element symbol. For example, in the element hydrogen all its atoms have a proton, therefore its Z is also 1.
It is important to remember that the atoms present in the different elements have different sums of protons and electrons. An atom being in a natural state tends to be neutral, therefore it will have an equal number of protons and electrons. For example, magnesium has the atomic number 12, this means that the atom that composes it has 12 protons and 12 electrons.
The atomic number, therefore, came to determine the chemical characteristics of an element and it is for this reason that said element can be described as permanent in any combination of atoms that have a given atomic number.
It should be added that the distribution that the periodic table currently presents was carried out by the Russian chemist Dimitri Mendeleiev since it was he who organized these elements, based on the variation of the chemical characteristics. While the German chemist Julius Lothar Meyer was given the task of organizing the elements based on the physical characteristics of atoms. The latter is considered the authorship of the periodic table.
