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Each element is represented on the periodic table by a box containing numbers and a letter or letters. Explain what is meant by each number and the letters for the element sodium, which is represented in diagram B.
What is the number 22.990 is the atomic weight of an average sodium ion. The number 23 is the mass number (the number of protons + neutrons of the stable isotope of sodium). The letters Na represent the chemical symbol for sodium. The number 11 is the atomic number (the number of protons in a sodium atom).