Little Bang Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 This question is probably right down UncleAl's alley. Does anyone know the how and the why of isotopes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleAl Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 This question is probably right down UncleAl's alley. Does anyone know the how and the why of isotopes?Isotopes are nuclides with the same Z and different A, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopehttp://t2.lanl.gov/data/astro/molnix96/massd.html Isotopes are not to be confused with nuclear isomers that have identical Z and A, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_isomer or with nuclear isotones or isobars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qfwfq Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 The why, in simple terms, is that for a given number Z of protons, the nucleus will be stable or at least metastable, if it has not too few and not too many neutrons. In some cases there is more than one fairly stable isotope. For a given Z the atoms are the same chemical element with just different mass. The details of how stable a nucleus with a given Z and A will be, are complicated but can be worked out with quantum mechanics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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