Question

Give reasons for the following:

Isotopes have similar chemical properties.

Answer 1

• Isotopes- Atoms of an element having the same atomic number but a different mass number are known as isotopes.
• Atomic number(Z)- The total number of protons in the nucleus of an atom gives us the atomic number of that atom.
• Mass number(A)- The number of protons and neutrons combine to give us the mass number of an atom.
• Let us take an example of a Hydrogen atom.
• Hydrogen has three isotopes namely hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium.
• Hydrogen has 1 proton, Z=1, A=1.
• Deuterium has 1 proton and 1 neutron, Z=1, A=2.
• Tritium atom has 1 proton and 2 neutrons, Z=1, A=3.
• In these atoms, the atomic number is 1 while the mass number is changing.
• These atoms have the same atomic number which is the determining factor of chemical properties.

Hence, we can say that isotopes have similar chemical properties.