How does an isotope differ from a normal atom?

Answer 1

When an atom is of the same atomic number, Atomic Mass, etc. to the one on the Periodic Table (Lets use Boron for example) Then B is the regular atom. But if you change the number of nuetrons (from 6-to-7 or whatever number) ; because the number of protons never changes; you will get a different atomic mass, so an isotope is the atom with a different atomic mass. You write an isotope atom with the elements symbol and to the left of it you script (In the top left corner really small like an exponent) the new atomic mass. So in this case B would now be 12B. (except scripted, but I sadfully forgot how to do that on a computer....)

Answer 2

Regular elements contain regular neutron number and the same number of protons and neutrons. Isotopes have different neutron numbers than the original element, but the same number of protons and electrons.

Answer 3

an isotope is an atom that is heavier or lighter than a normal atom of the same element. the number of protons is different. for example, carbon usually has an atomic mass of 12: 6 protons, 6 neutrons. but in carbon 14 (an isotope of carbon), there are 6 protons and 8 neutrons.

Answer 4

An isotope has a different number of neutrons than the regular atom of that element, giving it a different mass, bult it still has the same chemical properties. For example, H-1 has one proton, one electron, no neutrons, and a mass of 1amu. H-2 Has one proton, one electron, one neutron, and a mass of 2amu.

Answer 5

An isotope is a certain type of atom. An isotope of a certain element will have different numbers of neutrons creating different forms of that element. For example there is many carbon isotopes, the most main isotopes are carbon-11, carbon-12, and carbon-13. carbon-11 with only five neutrons is an unstable form of carbon. carbon-12 with 6 neutrons is the most common form of carbon with 98.89% of all carbon. Carbon-13 has 7 electrons, this form of carbon is mostly found in rotting wood and helps with determining age of earth.

Answer 6

Well, isotopes are "normal atoms". The difference between different isotopes is different numbers of neutrons in their nucleus. This causes different isotopes to have different atomic mass numbers and atomic masses.

Some isotopes (but not all) are radioactive, because the ratios of neutrons to protons in their nuclei results in instabilities.

Answer 7

The difference between a regular atom and an isotope is the number of neutrons in the nucleus.

For example, Carbon-12 and Carbon-14 have the same number of protons, but the isotope has two extra neutrons. (The number following the hyphen '-' is the amount of protons plus neutrons in the nucleus.)

Answer 8

Isotopes are atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons. Some elements have more than one isotope and some don't. The isotopes of an element are chemically identical, they just differ in mass. There is nothing special about any particular isotope, elements with them are just as 'regular' as the few which don't.

Answer 9

Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have different atomic masses due to difftering numbers of neutrons in the nucleus.

Answer 10

Isotopes are the atoms of an element with same atomic number but different atomic masses.