Which of the following statements is true regarding isotopes?
Practice Questions
Q1
Which of the following statements is true regarding isotopes?
They have the same number of protons
They have different chemical properties
They have different atomic numbers
They have the same mass number
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
Which of the following statements is true regarding isotopes?
Step 1: Understand what an isotope is. An isotope is a version of an element that has the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons.
Step 2: Remember that the number of protons in an element determines what element it is. For example, all carbon atoms have 6 protons.
Step 3: Know that isotopes of the same element will have the same number of protons (like carbon-12 and carbon-14 both have 6 protons) but different numbers of neutrons (carbon-12 has 6 neutrons, carbon-14 has 8 neutrons).
Step 4: Realize that the different number of neutrons changes the mass of the atom, which is why isotopes have different mass numbers.
