Final answer:
To deduce the atomic number, protons, neutrons, and electrons from an isotope notation, identify the atomic number and the mass number, then subtract the atomic number from the mass number to find the neutrons; the number of protons and electrons is equal to the atomic number.
Step-by-step explanation:
When given an isotope in the nuclear or hyphen form, the next step to figure out information such as atomic number, protons, neutrons, and electrons is to determine the atomic number, which is usually indicated by the subscript next to the symbol or implied by the symbol itself. The atomic number equals the number of protons. Then, you analyze the mass number (indicated by the superscript or following the hyphen in the isotope's name) and subtract the atomic number to find the number of neutrons. Since atoms are neutral, the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons.
Therefore, the correct approach is to first identify the atomic number and count the number of protons (which would also be the number of electrons for a neutral atom), and then calculate the number of neutrons by subtracting the atomic number from the mass number. Using the example of carbon-12, where 12 is the mass number, one would subtract the atomic number 6 (the number of protons in carbon) to deduce that there are 6 neutrons in this isotope.