Question

The subatomic particles of the three isotopes of carbon are listed in the table below. Carbon-12Carbon-13Carbon-14Electrons- 6Electrons- 6Electrons- ?Neutrons- 6Neutrons- 7Neutrons- ?Protons- 6Protons- 6Protons- ?Provide your response to all parts of the question.Identify and describe the number of subatomic particles in carbon-14.Is carbon-14 stable like the other two isotopes of carbon? Explain.If carbon-14 were to undergo beta decay, what is the daughter isotope?

Answer 1

Explanations:

- The subatomic particle is the total number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in the nucleus of the carbon-14 atom.

A carbon-14 element has an atomic number of 6 and a mass number of 14. Since the atomic number of carbon is equal to the number of protons, hence the number of proton in the nucleus of the element is 6 protons.

Also, the number of protons is equal to the number of electrons. Hence there are 6electrons in the nucleus of the carbon-14 atom.

For the number of neutrons, we can use the relationship;

Mass number = number of proton + neutron

14 = 6 + number of neutron

number of neutron = 14 - 6 = 8 neutrons.

Hence, the number of subatomic particles in carbon-14 are 6 protons, 6 electrons, and 8 neutrons.

- The isotopes of carbon are carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14. Among these isotopes of carbon, carbon-12, carbon-13 are more stable while carbon-14 is unstable and weakly radioactive. The unstable nature of the carbon-14 isotope is due to the presence of two extra neutrons in its nucleus.

- If the carbon-14 were to undergo beta decay, the resulting nuclear reaction that results is given as:

`^(14)_6C\rightarrow^(14)_7N+^0_(-1)n`

From the reaction, you can see that the daughter isotope, if carbon-14 were to undergo beta decay, is the Nitrogen-14 atom, a plain-old stable atom with seven protons and neutrons.