What best describes an isotope?

Answer 1

Atoms of the same element can have different numbers of neutrons; the different possible versions of each element are called isotopes. For example, the most common isotope of hydrogen has no neutrons at all; there's also a hydrogen isotope called deuterium, with one neutron, and another, tritium, with two neutrons.

If you want to refer to a certain isotope, you write it like this: AXZ. Here X is the chemical symbol for the element, Z is the atomic number, and A is the number of neutrons and protons combined, called the mass number. For instance, ordinary hydrogen is written 1H1, deuterium is 2H1, and tritium is 3H1.

there are "preferred" combinations of neutrons and protons, at which the forces holding nuclei together seem to balance best. Light elements tend to have about as many neutrons as protons; heavy elements apparently need more neutrons than protons in order to stick together. Atoms with a few too many neutrons, or not quite enough, can sometimes exist for a while, but they're unstable.

Answer 2

Hey,

an isotope is defined as any of the different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different Atomic Mass. Isotopes of an element have nuclei1with the same number of protons (the same atomic number) but different numbers of neutrons.

The atomic mass is higher due to the extra neutron(s) in nuclei.

1Nuclei is the core of an atom

-Toffeeen

Answer 3

An atom of an element that has the same number of protons and electrons but diffrent number of neutrons.
Isotopes are atoms of the same element but with different number of neutrons. Since the sum of protons and neutrons is the mass number, this means that isotopes of an element have different mass numbers.

Answer 4

Isotopes are different forms of the same element. Different isotopes of the same element have the same number of protons, which gives them the same atomic number and chemical properties. However, each has a different number of neutrons in its nucleus. This gives the isotopes different atomic weights as well as some differences in physical properties.

Answer 5

Isotopes are atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons, resulting in different atomic mass but the same chemical properties. They are identified by their mass number, which is the sum of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.

Answer 6

Structurally variant atoms, which have the same number of protons and electrons, but differ in the number of neutrons they contain.