How to Use atomic number in a Sentence

atomic number

noun
  • This picture shows some of these elements, along with their atomic numbers.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 16 Oct. 2017
  • The number 47, the atomic number for silver, is one of the clues on the puzzle box in the beginning.
    — Angela Watercutter, WIRED, 23 Dec. 2022
  • Each box and square with the atomic number just reminded me of another window with some family back there.
    — James Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, 8 June 2023
  • Some rare earths are heavy and some are light, depending on their atomic number, and the two have different applications.
    — Naomi Xu Elegant, Fortune, 10 Sep. 2019
  • Adding another, to make cerium, atomic number 58, adds an electron to the fourth circle.
    — Stanley Merzman, Discover Magazine, 21 Aug. 2018
  • With an atomic number of 79 in the periodic table, gold has been a measure of wealth and a store of value for thousands of years.
    — Zain Jaffer, Rolling Stone, 26 June 2024
  • Among the atoms resulting from neutron bombardment were much smaller atoms like barium, which has an atomic number of 56.
    — Umair Irfan, Vox, 11 June 2018
  • For the types of BECs that form droplets, the repulsive forces are not just a function of the density but also the atomic number.
    — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 28 Nov. 2018
  • The chemical element with the atomic number 44 is called ruthenium.
    — Mark Inabinett, AL.com, 8 Apr. 2018
  • But today who needs to know the capital of South Dakota or the atomic number of hafnium (Pierre and 72)?
    — Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2020
  • Along with the name and atomic number of each element, Enevoldsen added helpful graphics and a short explanation of how each element is put to use.
    — Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 7 Nov. 2016
  • Lithium, the primary component of batteries for electric cars, is a simple element with an atomic number of three.
    — Stephen Witt, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2022
  • The elements here, starting at atomic number 104 (rutherfordium), have never been found in nature.
    — Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 14 May 2024
  • Many periodic tables include the atomic number (number of protons) and atomic weight (which depends on protons and neutrons).
    — Bill Andrews, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2019
  • Rare earths are a group of 17 metals, classified into lights and heavies depending on their atomic number, and are crucial to the manufacturing of high-tech products.
    — Mary Hui, Quartz, 14 May 2021
  • What metallic element, whose atomic number is 27, was featured on Thursday's show and cited for its use in everything from paints to steel to electric car batteries?
    — CNN, 3 May 2018
  • The spot is several hundred miles from the magnetic South Pole, and Darke has chosen it as her turnaround point because 79 is the atomic number of gold.
    — Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 17 Nov. 2022
  • How to Read the Table Many periodic tables include the atomic number (number of protons) and atomic weight (which depends on protons and neutrons).
    — Bill Andrews, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2019
  • Given that titanium features an atomic number of 22 and platinum’s is 78, there seem to be a number of opportunities to plunder the periodic table.
    — Davey G. Johnson, Car and Driver, 5 Feb. 2018
  • When electrons in the beam are deflected by the nuclei in a target—consisting of a material having a high atomic number, such as tungsten—copious X-rays are produced, which can then be directed to kill cancer cells in tumors.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 29 Oct. 2020
  • These rods were inserted into a nuclear reactor and bombarded with neutrons, tiny, uncharged subatomic particles, with the hope that some would get stuck to uranium atoms, increasing their atomic number to 239.
    — Julian G. West, The Atlantic, 2 Apr. 2018
  • In this photo illustration, metal cubes representing rare earth elements are stacked in a pyramid formation in front of the national flag of China, with each cube labeled with its chemical symbol and atomic number, on July 26, 2025 in Chongqing, China.
    — Edward Fishman, Time, 21 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'atomic number.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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