Question

Is it possible that two atoms have the same number of electrons and protons but a different number of neutrons ? If so, give an example.

Answer 1

• Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons but the same number of protons and electrons.
• An isotope is defined as any form of a chemical element that has the same number of protons in the nucleus, or the same atomic number, but has a different number of neutrons in the nucleus. The result is that two isotopes of the same element have different atomic weights or moles.
• The common examples are the isotopes of hydrogen and carbon.
• Hydrogen has three stable isotopes namely protium, deuterium, and tritium. These isotopes have the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons wherein protium has zero, deuterium has one and tritium has two.
• When we look at carbon it also has three isotopes namely Carbon-12, Carbon-13, and Carbon-14. The numbers 12, 13, and 14 are the isotopes’ atomic masses. Here, Carbon-12 is a stable isotope whereas carbon-14 is mostly a radioactive isotope.