After
reading this section you will be able to do the following:
Define
an isotope and explain how it is different than an element.
The other particle in the nucleus
of an atom is the neutron. The neutron has no electrical
charge and is said to be neutral. Like protons, all neutrons are
identical.
Do all atoms
of an element have the same number of neutrons?
The answer to this question is no.
The number of protons in the nucleus of every atom of an element
is always the same, but this is not the case with the number of
neutrons. Atoms of the same element can have a different number
of neutrons. Atoms want to have the same number of neutrons
and protons but the number of neutrons can change.
Notice that the three
hydrogen atoms have the same number of protons, but a different
number of neutrons. This is also true for the two carbon atoms.
These atoms are called isotopes, which are atoms of the
same element that have a different number of neutrons.
Review:
Neutrons
are all identical to each other, just as protons are.
Atoms
of a particular element must have the same number of protons
but can have different numbers of neutrons.
When an
atom does not have the same number of protons and neutrons,
it is called an isotope.
