Question

Can isotopes have different electron numbers?

The chemical properties of isotopes are the same because their electron numbers are the same. Can two atoms that have the same proton number but different neutron and electron numbers be isotopes of each other? If yes, shouldn't their chemical properties be the same?

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

Being an isotope solely depends on different mass numbers of the same atom. More precisely it depends on the number of neutrons. Difference in the number of electrons only means that the atom is either positively or negatively charged. It does not have anything to do with isotopes. So two atoms having the same proton number but different neutron and electron number means that it might be a charged isotope. Hope this helps :)