Final answer:
The symbol for the isotope potassium-39 is written as 39/19 K, where 39 is the mass number and 19 represents the atomic number (the number of protons) of potassium.
Step-by-step explanation:
To answer the question, we need to provide the symbol for the isotope of potassium-39. Given the explanation provided, the symbol consists of the atomic number (Z), the element symbol (X), and the mass number (A). For potassium, the atomic number Z is 19, which is the number of protons. The element symbol for potassium is K. The mass number A for the isotope potassium-39 is 39, which represents the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Therefore, the appropriate isotope notation for potassium-39 is 39/19 K.
Calculating the number of neutrons (N), we use the formula N = A - Z. So, for potassium-39, N = 39 - 19 = 20. Hence, the isotope potassium-39 has 20 neutrons in its nucleus.