LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- What are isotopes?
- What are the similarities and differences between different isotopes of elements?
- To learn about the isotopes of Hydrogen, Chlorine, Carbon, and Uranium.
ISOTOPES:
Isotopes are the atom of an element that have the same atomic number but different atomic mass. Different elements such as Carbon, Hydrogen, Potassium, Chlorine, and Uranium exist in multiple naturally occurring isotopes. Carbon exists as three isotopes C-12, C-13, and C-14. For more on the overview of isotopes, visit our related article.
As the definition suggests that they have different mass so they will have different physical properties and they have the same atomic number this means the number of protons and neutrons remains the same, and so the chemical properties are identical. Let's take a deeper look into the isotopes and explore their similarities and differences.
Similarities:
- Isotopes of an element have the same atomic number.
- Isotopes of an element have the same number of protons and electrons.
- Isotopes of an element have the same chemical properties.
Differences:
- Isotopes of an element have different numbers of neutrons.
- Isotopes of an element have different atomic masses.
- Isotopes of an element have different physical properties.
Now we will discuss isotopes of Hydrogen, Chlorine, Carbon, and Uranium. If you're interested in atoms as building blocks of chemistry, you can explore that here.
Isotopes of Hydrogen:
Hydrogen is the first element of the periodic table. There are three naturally occurring isotopes of hydrogen, and four more synthetic ones: H-4, H-5, H-6, and H-7.
- Hydrogen-1 (Protium)
- Hydrogen-2 (Deuterium)
- Hydrogen-3 (Tritium)
Protium (H-1):
- Atomic Number: 1
- Atomic Mass: 1
- Number of Electrons: 1
- Number of Protons: 1
- Number of Neutrons: 0
- Natural Abundance: 99.98%
Deuterium (H-2):
- Atomic Number: 1
- Atomic Mass: 2
- Number of Electrons: 1
- Number of Protons: 1
- Number of Neutrons: 1
- Natural Abundance: 0.015%
Tritium (H-3):
- Atomic Number: 1
- Atomic Mass: 3
- Number of Electrons: 1
- Number of Protons: 1
- Number of Neutrons: 2
- Natural Abundance: Radioactive, Rare
Isotopes of Chlorine:
Chlorine is a member of the halogen family in the periodic table. There are 2 naturally occurring stable isotopes of chlorine: Cl-35 and Cl-37. Chlorine has a total of 25 isotopes. For more, check out states of matter where related topics are discussed in-depth.
- Chlorine-35
- Chlorine-37
Chlorine Cl-35:
- Atomic Number: 17
- Atomic Mass: 35
- Number of Electrons: 17
- Number of Protons: 17
- Number of Neutrons: 18
- Natural Abundance: 76%
Chlorine Cl-37:
- Atomic Number: 17
- Atomic Mass: 37
- Number of Electrons: 17
- Number of Protons: 17
- Number of Neutrons: 20
- Natural Abundance: 24%
Isotopes of Carbon:
Carbon belongs to group IV A of the periodic table. There are 15 isotopes of Carbon, but we will discuss the three main ones:
- Carbon-12
- Carbon-13
- Carbon-14
Carbon C-12:
- Atomic Number: 6
- Atomic Mass: 12
- Number of Electrons: 6
- Number of Protons: 6
- Number of Neutrons: 6
- Natural Abundance: 98.9%
Carbon C-13:
- Atomic Number: 6
- Atomic Mass: 13
- Number of Electrons: 6
- Number of Protons: 6
- Number of Neutrons: 7
- Natural Abundance: 1.1%
Carbon C-14:
- Atomic Number: 6
- Atomic Mass: 14
- Number of Electrons: 6
- Number of Protons: 6
- Number of Neutrons: 8
- Natural Abundance: Trace
Isotopes of Uranium:
There are three naturally occurring isotopes of uranium:
- Uranium-234
- Uranium-235
- Uranium-238
Uranium U-234:
- Atomic Number: 92
- Atomic Mass: 234
- Number of Electrons: 92
- Number of Protons: 92
- Number of Neutrons: 142
- Natural Abundance: 99.98%
Uranium U-235:
- Atomic Number: 92
- Atomic Mass: 235
- Number of Electrons: 92
- Number of Protons: 92
- Number of Neutrons: 143
- Natural Abundance: 0.72%
Uranium U-238:
- Atomic Number: 92
- Atomic Mass: 238
- Number of Electrons: 92
- Number of Protons: 92
- Number of Neutrons: 146
- Natural Abundance: 99.27%