163k views
5 votes
What do carbon 12 carbon 13 and carbon 14 have in common?

1 Answer

2 votes

Answer:

They have all the same number of protons and electrons ( 6)

Step-by-step explanation:

Carbon 12, Carbon 13 and Carbon 14 are all isotopes of Carbon.

The definition of an isotope is: They have the same number of protons (and electrons), but a different number of neutrons. Different isotopes of the same element have different masses.

Carbon 12 means an isotope with mass 12 u

it has 6 protons,(and 6 electrons) and 6 neutrons : 6 neutrons + 6 protons = 12

Carbon 13 is an isotope with mass 13 u

It has the same amount of protons ( and electrons) as Carbon 12, so 6 protons and 6 electrons

13 - 6 = 7 ⇒ Carbon 13 has 7 neutrons

Carbon 14 is an isotope with mass 14

it has the same of protons ( and electrons) as Carbon 12 and Carbon 13, so 6 protons and 6 electrons

14 - 6 = 8 ⇒ Carbon 14 has 8 neutrons

We can conclude that Carbon 12, Carbon 13 and Carbon 14 are 3 isotopes of Carbon. They all have the same number of protons (and electrons) = 6.

This means the isotopes will also have the same atomic number, because they are all isotopes of the same element.

User Gustavo Alves
by
8.8k points

No related questions found

Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.