Total Binding Energy: Determining Electron Count

[jools111]

When determining the total binding energy of an atom I understand the method to be as follows:

The total mass of all nucleons added together

minus

The total mass of the atom minus the mass of the electrons

My question is, how do you determine the number of electrons in an atom? All the questions I have done of this nature so far seem to be using one electron for the calculations. Thanks.

 

[AEM]

The number of electrons in a neutral atom is the same as the number of protons in the nucleus.

 

[jools111]

So when calculating TBE, should I always assume that the atom has a neutral charge?

 

[AEM]

I would think so. The contribution of the electrons to the binding energy it probably small compared to the nuclear binding energy (I haven't calculated it myself in a long long time, so I don't recall the exact comparison.)

 

[jools111]

I would think so. The contribution of the electrons to the binding energy it probably small compared to the nuclear binding energy (I haven't calculated it myself in a long long time, so I don't recall the exact comparison.)

Ok. Thanks!