What determines the chemical properties of an element?

1. the number and arrangement of the electrons in an atom?

2. the number of neutrons and protons in an element

3. the arrangement of all the neutron, protons, and electrons

4. the atomic mass of an atom

the answer is 1. the number and arrangement of the electrons in an atom

Answer: Option (1) is the correct answer.

Explanation:

Chemical properties are defined as the properties which tend to show change in chemical composition of a substance.

For example, toxicity, reactivity, combustion etc are all chemical properties.

In a chemical reaction, it is only the electrons that take part in the reaction and not the protons or neutrons.

On the other hand, properties that are unable to bring any change in chemical composition of a substance are known as physical properties.

For example, change in shape, size, mass, volume etc are all physical properties.

Thus, we can conclude that the chemical properties of an element determines the number and arrangement of the electrons in an atom.