1) Is the number of proton of the three isotopes of hydrogen the same or different? 2) Is the number of neutron of the three isotopes of hydrogen the same or different? 3) Do they have the same or different mass number? Why?
1. There are three isotopes of the element hydrogen: hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium. How do we distinguish between them? They each have one single proton (Z = 1), but differ in the number of their neutrons. Hydrogen has no neutron, deuterium has one, and tritium has two neutrons.
2. The hydrogen element has three isotopes: hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium. We each have a single proton (Z = 1), but the number of their neutrons is different. There is no neutron in hydrogen, one in deuterium, and two neutrons in tritium.
3. All atoms of a chemical element have the same atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus) but may have different mass numbers (from having different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus). Atoms of an element with the same mass number make up an isotope of the element.
Answers & Comments
Answer:
1. There are three isotopes of the element hydrogen: hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium. How do we distinguish between them? They each have one single proton (Z = 1), but differ in the number of their neutrons. Hydrogen has no neutron, deuterium has one, and tritium has two neutrons.
2. The hydrogen element has three isotopes: hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium. We each have a single proton (Z = 1), but the number of their neutrons is different. There is no neutron in hydrogen, one in deuterium, and two neutrons in tritium.
3. All atoms of a chemical element have the same atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus) but may have different mass numbers (from having different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus). Atoms of an element with the same mass number make up an isotope of the element.