Is it easier for an atom to lose a proton or a neutron?why or why not

will brain list

No

Explanation:

It is not easier for an atom to lose a proton or a neutron because these particles are held together by very strong nuclear forces within the atom.

Protons are positively charged particles

Neutrons do not carry any charges.

  In the nucleus of an atom, both protons and neutrons can be found.

As with both particles, the very strong attractive force makes them very difficult to remove in ordinary chemical reactions.

Nuclear forces are one of the strongest forces that keeps an atom especially the nucleus together. Only in nuclear reactions to we encounter a situation where nuclear materials are changed, in that regard the properties of the atom also changes.

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.