An element has an atomic number of 29. the number of protons and electrons in a neutral atom of the element are * a. 58 protons and 29 electrons b. 29 protons and 0 electrons c. 15 protons and 14 electrons d. 29 protons and 29 electrons

The number of protons and electrons in a neutral atom of the element are;

D. 29 protons and 29 electrons

The atomic number of an element is equal to the number of protons in the nucleus of each atom of that element.

Thus copper has an atomic number of 29, all atoms of copper will have 29 protons.

explanation:

metals have excess of electrons whereas non-metals have deficiency of electrons. thus, in order to gain stability metals easily donate their electrons to the non-metals.

for example, electronic configuration of sodium is and electronic configuration of phosphorous is .

when a phosphorous atom and sodium atom combine together then sodium will donate is extra one electron to the phosphorous atom. as a result there will be formation of ionic bond between sodium and phosphorous.

the reaction will be as follows.

there, are three sodium sodium atoms and each of them will donate its one extra electron to phosphorous atom. thus, the sub-shell of phosphorous gets completely filled.  

thus, we can conclude that electrons are transferred from atoms of sodium to atoms of phosphorous. this transfer makes the sodium atoms donate one electron and the phosphorous atoms to gain one electron. as a result, the sodium and phosphorus atoms strongly attract each other.