Basically, the protons are what hold the electrons in orbit, so they are what determine how the element can bond with other elements, how easily the electrons can break off, and how the electrons configure themselves. The neutrons don't really do much (unless there's a lot of them, then the element become radioactive and they start breaking off).
By striking it with neutrons.
During nuclear decay, an isotope of an element changes by emitting radiation, such as alpha or beta particles, or gamma rays. This process results in the isotope transforming into a different element or a different isotope of the same element. The change is necessary to achieve a more stable configuration, typically by adjusting the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.
No.
No.
Try "the proton" (change the electrons and you get ions, change the neutrons and you get an isotope.)
Changing the number of neutrons in an atom does not change the element it belongs to because the element is determined by the number of protons in the nucleus. Changing the number of neutrons would result in an isotope of the same element, not a new element.
An isotope of an element has a different number of Neutrons to the original element it came from. EG: Carbon( 11 neurtons) can go to carbon(12 Neutrons(
Because each isotope of an element has a mass different from any other isotope of the same element, and the atomic mass of an element is an average, weighted by the proportion of each isotope, in the naturally occurring element.
The Neutron- An element with the same number of protons and electrons, but with a different number of neutrons per atom than the original element is called an "isotope". An isotope will have, for all intensive purposes, about the same chemical and physical properties as the original element. Isotopes are written as the element, followed by a dash, then the number of neutrons in one atom of that isotope (Carbon-13 is an isotope of carbon with 13 neutrons per atom)
Yes, variations in the number of neutrons in an atom will change its isotope, but not its identity as an element. Isotopes of the same element have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.
It is the neutron that makes changes in atomic nuclei to change them from one isotope to another. For any given element, that element will have a fixed number of protons. It is, after all, the number of protons that determine the elemental identity. But the number of neutrons in a given element can vary, and we use the term isotope to talk about which particular atom we're investigating. That is, we apply the term isotope to speak to an atom of a given element with a certain number of neutrons in its nucleus.
There is no specific number; each element has another number of natural and artificial isotopes.