What are Isotopes Isotopes are atoms that have a different number of neutrons, but the same number of protons and electrons. An atom is still the same element if it has different neutrons - it’s just a different version!
Carbon Isotopes For example, the element carbon has 13 different isotopes! You are familiar with C-12 (the C stands for carbon, and the 12 is it’s atomic mass) This isotope has 6 neutrons C-14 (atomic mass 14) is used for carbon dating and has 8 neutrons!
More about Isotopes In an isotope, the number of protons and electrons never changes- only the number of neutrons is different This means that each isotope of a particular element has a different atomic mass than another isotope of the same element Remember: C-12 has an atomic mass of 12 and C-14 has an atomic mass of 14!
Count the Number of Protons and Neutrons
Isotope Notation There are several different ways to write symbols for isotopes, each of which is perfectly legitimate. The other ways to write each of these hydrogen isotopes from top to bottom are: Hydrogen-1 or H-1 Hydrogen-2 or H-2 Hydrogen-3 or H-3 Example Write down the three different notations for a carbon atom with 6 protons and 6 neutrons.
Applications of Isotopes Structural determination of compounds Carbon-14 is used for dating archaeological or geological materials Medical Uses Isotopes are used for diagnosis in medicine, Sodium and Iodine.
Quick Activity Calculate the number of neutrons there are in the following isotopes (use your periodic table to find the atomic numbers) Carbon-14 Nitrogen-15 Sulfur-35 Calcium-45 Iodine-131
Calculating Atomic Mass Based on Isotopes Most elements exist as several different isotopes. For example, chlorine has two naturally occurring isotopes: chlorine-35 chlorine-37 75.77% of the chlorine in the world exists as chlorine-35, and 24.23% exists as chlorine-37.
Calculating Atomic Mass Based on Isotopes This is why the atomic masses on the periodic table are not WHOLE numbers. If we know how much of each isotope exists in the world, we can calculate the average atomic mass of that element (which is the number you find on the periodic table).