How do isotopes of an atom differ from each other?

Answer 1

Isotopes can either be stable or unstable. Unstable isotopes have an uneven number of protons and neutrons. Stable isotopes have the same number of protons and neutrons. The number of usual protons in an element is found in the Atomic Mass, but I won't go there.

(hope this helps, this is what we're learning about in our science class)

Answer 2

Because the atomic mass is determined by the sum of the number of protons and neutrons contained in the nucleus, isotopes differ in mass. Since they contain the same number of protons (and hence electrons), isotopes have the same chemical properties. However, the nuclear and atomic properties of isotopes can be different. The electronic energy levels of an atom depend upon the nuclear mass. Thus, corresponding atomic levels of isotopes are slightly shifted relative to each other. A nucleus can have a magnetic moment which can interact with the magnetic field generated by the electrons and lead to a splitting of the electronic levels. The number of resulting states of nearly the same energy depends upon the spin of the nucleus and the characteristics of the specific electronic level.

# of neutrons

Answer 3

Except for something like a mass spectrometer you (or your body) can't tell them apart.

Different isotopes of a given element all have the same number of protons, electrons and electronic structure. And it is because of the electronic structure that a chemical behavior is determined thus different isotopes exhibit almost identical chemical behavior, with the exception of the Kinetic isotopic effect which states that due to their larger masses, heavier isotopes tend to react more slowly than lighter isotopes of the same element.

you can research more deeply on this topic and the Kinetic Isotopic effect on this great website.

http/www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Isotope

Hope that helps you mate!!! =)

Isotopes of Carbon are different because they have different numbers of Neutrons in their nucleous. This causes their weights to be a little different but does not have any significant effect on their chemical properties.

Answer 4

The important isotopes of carbon are carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14. Carbon-12 contains six protons and six neutrons, carbon-13 contains six protons and seven neutrons, and carbon-14 contains six protons and eight neutrons.

Answer 5

It differs in the # of neutrons in the nucleus of an atom

Answer 6

number of neutrons are diffrent in all thee isotopes

Answer 7

These three natural isotopes of carbon have a different number of neutrons.

Answer 8

Isotopes of carbon (and any other element as well) differ only in the number of neutrons present in the nucleus.

Answer 9

Only the number of neutrons is different.