Question

What differs in the atomic structure of isotopes?

Answer 1

Isotopes:

• “Isotopes are atoms of the same element, which have different mass numbers”.
• Example: Consider the Hydrogen atom, which has three atomic species, namely Protium $\left({}_1{}^1\mathrm{H}\right)$, Deuterium $\left({}_1{}^2\mathrm{H}\mathrm{or}\mathrm{D}\right)$ ,and Tritium $\left({}_1{}^3\mathrm{H}\mathrm{or}\mathrm{T}\right)$.

• The difference in the number of neutrons in the nucleus makes the structure of isotopes different.

Isotopes of Hydrogen

• Isotopes of Hydrogen are shown below.