If you add the atomic numbers of carbon and oxygen, what number do you get?

The atomic number of an atom is the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom. Each known element has a different number of protons in its atom. An atom of oxygen, for example, contains 8 protons, whereas a carbon atom contains 6 protons. (So, to answer the question, 8+6=14.)

The atomic number of an atom identifies which element it is. The elements of the periodic table are listed in order of increasing atomic number, starting with the number one, which is hydrogen.

When Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907) first arranged the periodic table in 1869, he placed the elements in order of atomic weight. After further observations, it was noted that the more protons an element had, the heavier it was. As of today, elements are said to be ordered by the number of protons, sometimes represented by the letter 'Z'. The choice of the letter 'Z' possibly comes from the German word 'Atomzahl', which means 'atomic number'. Alternatively, it may simply stand for 'Zahl', the German word for 'number'.