Oxygen has 3 isotopes of atomic mass 16,17,18 respectively. Explain why they have same chemical properties, they are all electrically neutral.
Oxygen has 3 isotopes of atomic mass 16,17,18 respectively. Explain why they have same chemical properties, they are all electrically neutral.
Isotopes only differ by the number of neutrons in the nuclei. As their name implies, neutrons are not charged, but they remain extremely important as they help keeping things stable inside the nuclei. However, there is no simple rule as to wether an atom is stable or not depending on the number of neutrons in the nuclei ; there is globally a tendency for heavier nuclei to be less stable, but it is close to impossible to predict for now.
Unstable atoms are not the ones you want to have around you : they are radioactive, meaning that the nuclei will eventually emit some particles and energy in order to reach a more stable atom. There isn’t usually a single step : atoms decay into a chain of different unstable elements and end-up stable only after all these radioactive emissions have been achieved.
hope it helps
Isotopes only differ by the number of neutrons in the nuclei. As their name implies, neutrons are not charged, but they remain extremely important as they help keeping things stable inside the nuclei. However, there is no simple rule as to wether an atom is stable or not depending on the number of neutrons in the nuclei ; there is globally a tendency for heavier nuclei to be less stable, but it is close to impossible to predict for now.
Unstable atoms are not the ones you want to have around you : they are radioactive, meaning that the nuclei will eventually emit some particles and energy in order to reach a more stable atom. There isn’t usually a single step : atoms decay into a chain of different unstable elements and end-up stable only after all these radioactive emissions have been achieved.
hope it helps
