Question

How can you identify two ways in which carbon-12, carbon-13 and carbon-14 are alike?

Answer 1

In order to find how the carbon-12, carbon-13 and carbon-14 are alike, we must know about the isotopes of the carbon. Isotope is a particular chemical element in which the proton number is the same but the neutron number is different. Carbon-12, carbon-13 and carbon-14 are the natural isotopes of the carbon atom.

Complete step by step answer:
- Let us first understand what an isotope is. Isotope is a particular chemical element in which the proton number is the same but the neutron number is different. The 15 known isotopes of Carbon will range from Carbon-8 to Carbon-22. Among that Carbon-12, carbon-13 and carbon-14 are the natural isotopes of the carbon atom. Carbon-12 and carbon-13 are the most stable isotopes of carbon. The longest-lived radioisotope of carbon is carbon-14.
- All carbon atoms will be having Z= 6, where Z is the positively charged particles present in the carbon nucleus. In Carbon-12, carbon-13 and carbon-14 the number of protons present is 6 and the number of neutrons present is 6,7 and 8 respectively.

Note: We have to remember that the mass and charge of the proton, neutrons and electrons vary from one another.
- the electron is having a mass of $9.109 \times {10^{ - 28}}$ and charge is negative.
- the proton is having a mass of $1.673 \times {10^{ - 24}}$ and charge is positive.
- the neutron has a mass of $1.675 \times {10^{ - 24}}$ and charge is neutral.