What is the use of isotopes?

Answer 1

Every element provides a couple of isotopes which are of very different use.

For example, carbon has a radioactive isotope (14C).

You can, for example, grow bacteria on a modified substrate which contains the radioactive isotope instead of normal carbon.

The resulting generation will inherit carbon in it's cellular substance which is not only heavier (14 instead of 12 nucleons) but also emits measurable radiation.

These features can be used to reconstruate cellular growth processes, as well as in other organisms bodily functions and development.

Hydrogen has three isotopes, one of them deuterium (features one neutron), which makes it twice as heavy as normal hydrogen. D2O water is therefore much heavier than normal H2O water. As water is widely used in most metabolic pathways, "marking" with D2O can let you find the isotope in different parts of the organism and it's products. For example, a plant can be fed with D2O, afterwards you can see how much of it was metabolized and used for building biological substance, and how much of it was transpirated through the leaves.

Answer 2

Isotopes are different types of atoms (nuclides) of the same chemical element, each having a different number of neutrons.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.
In a corresponding manner, isotopes differ in mass number (or number of nucleons) but never in atomic number.[1] The number of protons (the atomic number) is the same because that is what characterizes a chemical element. For example, carbon-12, carbon-13 and carbon-14 are three isotopes of the element carbon with mass numbers 12, 13 and 14, respectively. The atomic number of carbon is 6, so the neutron numbers in these isotopes of carbon are therefore 12−6 = 6, 13−6 = 7, and 14-6 = 8, respectively

Answer 3

Isotopes have a variety of uses, including in dating archaeological artifacts, tracing biological and chemical processes, diagnosing medical conditions with imaging techniques, generating nuclear power, and treating cancer. Their unique properties allow scientists to study and understand different physical, chemical, and biological processes.

Answer 4

Uranium with a specific isotope is used for nuclear bombs Uranium with a specific isotope is used for nuclear bombs

Answer 5

Isotopes are elements with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons. They are useful for radiometric dating because they decay at predictable and measurable amounts.