Question

What are the characteristics of isotopes?

Answer 1

Isotopes:

The atoms of the same element having the same atomic number but different mass numbers are known as isotopes. i.e. same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.

Isotopes of Chlorine $\mathbf{\left(}\mathbf{Cl}\mathbf{\right)}$:

Chlorine has two isotopes: $\mathrm{Cl}-35$ and $\mathrm{Cl}-37$.

Characteristics of isotopes:

1. All the isotopes of an element have same atomic number but different mass numbers.
2. Thus, all the isotopes of an element have same number of protons but different number of neutrons.
3. All isotopes of an element have the identical chemical properties due to same number of protons in them.
4. The physical properties of isotopes are different due to the difference in number of neutrons in their nuclei.