Periodic table found in nature. Elements 99 to 118 have only been synthesized in laboratories or nuclear reactors. The synthesis of elements having higher atomic numbers is currently being pursued: these elements would begin an eighth row, and theoretical work has been done to suggest possible candidates for this extension. Numerous synthetic radionuclides of naturally occurring elements have also been produced in laboratories. Each chemical element has a unique atomic number ("Z") representing the number of protons in its nucleus. Most elements have differing numbers of neutrons among different atoms, with these variants being referred to as isotopes. For example, carbon has
Charge number having stripped off all electrons, the charge number is identical with the atomic number "Z", which corresponds to the number of protons in ordinary atomic nuclei. Unlike in chemistry, subatomic particles with electric charges of two elementary charges (e.g. some delta baryons) are indicated with a superscript "++" or "−−". In chemistry, the same charge numbers are usually indicated as superscript "+2" or "−2". In particle physics, the charge number is a (derived) flavor quantum number. For color-charged particles like quarks and hypothetical leptoquarks, the charge number is a multiple of 1/3. Charge number Charge number ("z") refers to a