What is the difference with isotope and atom?

Answer 1

Isotopes are different forms of the element (they are therefore still elements).

For example - Carbon has 15 known isotopes, the stable ones being 12C and 13C.

All isotopes for the same element have the same number of protons, but a different number of neutrons. This means isotopes have different properties, such as different weights - but are all still the same element.

Answer 2

Iron, Hydrogen and Carbon are all examples of elements. Each element has a distinct atomic number, which is the number of protons in the nucleus of the atoms of that element. Protons are defined as subatomic (smaller than an atom) particles with a positive charge of +1. All Hydrogen atoms have 1 proton, all Carbon atoms have 6 protons.

Another particle found in the nucleus of an atom is the neutron. It has no charge. The number of these can vary for an element, but doesn't change the chemical behaviour of the element. It does change the nuclear behaviour though. The number of neutrons in a nucleus affects its stability. The different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus determine the isotope of that element.

Some isotopes are more common than others. Hydrogen has three naturally occurring isotopes. They are known as Protium, Deuterium and Tritium, and have 0, 1 and 2 neutrons respectively. The most common is Protium.

Because neutrons have mass, the Atomic Mass of an element (the mass of the atom) varies for each isotope. The average atomic mass takes into account the naturally occurring proportion of each isotope.

Answer 3

An isotope of an element has a different number of protons from the original element. For example, Carbon-12 is the "parent" element, and Carbon-14 is a common isotope. Carbon-14 has two more neutrons than Carbon-12, however the number of protons stays constant. The number of neutrons and electrons can differ within an element to give isotopes(different number of neutrons) and ions(different number of electrons). However, the number of protons must always stay the same, it defines an element. Carbon-14 is an isotope with two more neutrons. The element with 14 electrons is silicon.

Answer 4

An isotope is one form of an element. All of the atoms of the same element have the same number of protons, but the different isotopes will differ in the number of neutrons, which also causes a difference in mass number.

Answer 5

an element is on the Periodic Table but isotopes are atoms with the same number of of neutrons from other atoms of the same element.