Isotopes Social Sciences Essay Research Coursework (Essay Sample)

Isotopes
Answer
Isotopes of particular elements have a different neutron number but similar proton numbers. Besides, the number of protons in an element is equal to the number of electrons. In this case, isotopes have similar electron number. Considering that the electrons determine the chemical properties of an element by aiding ionization or chemical bonding, isotopes exhibit similar chemical properties. On the contrary, Isotopes of a particular element possess different neutron numbers that impact their respective mass numbers. Since the mass number of an element informs its physical properties, the isotopes with different mass numbers have different physical properties. Furthermore, there are different elements which have their isotopes, for instance carbon and potassium. One significant example is the carbon-12 and carbon-13 isotopes, since the element forms part of various molecules encountered in everyday life such as CO and CO2, compounds such as hydrogen carbonates and polymers acids such as carbonic acid, and body cells.