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# Is carbon $12$ an isotope?

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## Carbon and its isotopes:Carbon is a chemical element that is plentiful in nature. Diamonds and graphite are examples of pure or almost pure carbon, although they may also combine with other elements to form molecules.Carbon is divided into three isotopes(atoms with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes): Carbon$-12$, Carbon$-13$, and Carbon$-14$. The isotopes have atomic weights of $12,13$ and$14$. Among these, carbon$-12$ is a stable isotope, whereas carbon$-14$ is a radioactive isotope.Because of the different quantities of neutrons, isotopes usually have different masses. Carbon$-12$ is the most common on Earth, accounting for approximately $98.89$ one percent of the atoms in a mole of carbon.Carbon$-12$ is used to define mole i.e. one mole contains the same number of particles as $12\mathrm{g}$ Carbon $-12$ (the Avogadro number).Therefore, Carbon$-12$ is an isotope.

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