{"id":88671,"date":"2025-06-01T07:17:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T07:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/?p=88671"},"modified":"2025-06-01T07:17:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T07:17:57","slug":"which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a\/","title":{"rendered":"Which one of the following is the most fundamental characteristic of a"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Which one of the following is the most fundamental characteristic of an element ?<\/p>\n<p>[amp_mcq option1=&#8221;Melting point&#8221; option2=&#8221;Atomic number&#8221; option3=&#8221;Colour&#8221; option4=&#8221;Atomic weight&#8221; correct=&#8221;option2&#8243;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"psc-box-pyq-exam-year-detail\">\n<div class=\"pyq-exam\">\n<div class=\"psc-heading\">This question was previously asked in<\/div>\n<div class=\"psc-title line-ellipsis\">UPSC NDA-2 &#8211; 2020<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pyq-exam-psc-buttons\"><a href=\"\/pyq\/pyq-upsc-nda-2-2020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"psc-pdf-button\" rel=\"noopener\">Download PDF<\/a><a href=\"\/pyq-upsc-nda-2-2020\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"psc-attempt-button\" rel=\"noopener\">Attempt Online<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"pyq-correct-answer\">\nThe correct answer is (B) Atomic number. The atomic number (Z) of an element is defined as the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom of that element. This number is unique to each element and determines its fundamental chemical identity.<br \/>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"pyq-key-points\">\nThe atomic number is the defining characteristic of an element, determining its position in the periodic table and its chemical properties.<br \/>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"pyq-additional-information\">\nMelting point and color are physical properties that can vary depending on conditions or even within different forms (allotropes) of the same element. Atomic weight (more precisely, relative atomic mass) is the weighted average mass of isotopes of an element and is determined by the number of protons and neutrons, but the identity is fixed by the number of protons alone.<br \/>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Which one of the following is the most fundamental characteristic of an element ? [amp_mcq option1=&#8221;Melting point&#8221; option2=&#8221;Atomic number&#8221; option3=&#8221;Colour&#8221; option4=&#8221;Atomic weight&#8221; correct=&#8221;option2&#8243;] This question was previously asked in UPSC NDA-2 &#8211; 2020 Download PDFAttempt Online The correct answer is (B) Atomic number. The atomic number (Z) of an element is defined as the number &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Which one of the following is the most fundamental characteristic of a\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a\/#more-88671\">Detailed Solution<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Which one of the following is the most fundamental characteristic of a<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1094],"tags":[1288,1162,1096],"class_list":["post-88671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-upsc-nda-2","tag-1288","tag-atomic-structure","tag-chemistry","no-featured-image-padding"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.2 (Yoast SEO v23.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Which one of the following is the most fundamental characteristic of a<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The correct answer is (B) Atomic number. The atomic number (Z) of an element is defined as the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom of that element. This number is unique to each element and determines its fundamental chemical identity. The atomic number is the defining characteristic of an element, determining its position in the periodic table and its chemical properties.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Which one of the following is the most fundamental characteristic of a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The correct answer is (B) Atomic number. The atomic number (Z) of an element is defined as the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom of that element. This number is unique to each element and determines its fundamental chemical identity. The atomic number is the defining characteristic of an element, determining its position in the periodic table and its chemical properties.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MCQ and Quiz for Exams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-01T07:17:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Which one of the following is the most fundamental characteristic of a","description":"The correct answer is (B) Atomic number. The atomic number (Z) of an element is defined as the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom of that element. This number is unique to each element and determines its fundamental chemical identity. The atomic number is the defining characteristic of an element, determining its position in the periodic table and its chemical properties.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Which one of the following is the most fundamental characteristic of a","og_description":"The correct answer is (B) Atomic number. The atomic number (Z) of an element is defined as the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom of that element. This number is unique to each element and determines its fundamental chemical identity. The atomic number is the defining characteristic of an element, determining its position in the periodic table and its chemical properties.","og_url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a\/","og_site_name":"MCQ and Quiz for Exams","article_published_time":"2025-06-01T07:17:57+00:00","author":"rawan239","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rawan239","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a\/","url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a\/","name":"Which one of the following is the most fundamental characteristic of a","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-01T07:17:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-01T07:17:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#\/schema\/person\/5807dafeb27d2ec82344d6cbd6c3d209"},"description":"The correct answer is (B) Atomic number. The atomic number (Z) of an element is defined as the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom of that element. This number is unique to each element and determines its fundamental chemical identity. The atomic number is the defining characteristic of an element, determining its position in the periodic table and its chemical properties.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/which-one-of-the-following-is-the-most-fundamental-characteristic-of-a\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UPSC NDA-2","item":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/category\/upsc-nda-2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Which one of the following is the most fundamental characteristic of a"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#website","url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/","name":"MCQ and Quiz for Exams","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#\/schema\/person\/5807dafeb27d2ec82344d6cbd6c3d209","name":"rawan239","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/761a7274f9cce048fa5b921221e7934820d74514df93ef195a9d22af0c1c9001?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/761a7274f9cce048fa5b921221e7934820d74514df93ef195a9d22af0c1c9001?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"rawan239"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com"],"url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/author\/rawan239\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}