Question

What do all isotopes of oxygen have in common (recall ChemActivity 3)? How are they different? Check that all team members agree.

a) Common: Same atomic number; Different: Varying atomic mass.

b) Common: Same atomic mass; Different: Varying atomic number.

c) Common: Same number of neutrons; Different: Varying number of protons.

d) Common: Same number of protons; Different: Varying number of neutrons

Answer 1

Isotopes of oxygen have the same atomic number but varying atomic mass due to different numbers of neutrons.

Step-by-step explanation:

Isotopes of oxygen have the same number of protons and electrons, which means they exhibit the same chemistry. However, they differ in their atomic mass, which is given by the mass number (A), the sum of the numbers of protons and neutrons. Therefore, all isotopes of oxygen have the same atomic number (8) but different atomic mass due to varying numbers of neutrons. For example, oxygen-16 has 8 protons and 8 neutrons, while oxygen-17 has 8 protons and 9 neutrons.