Question

How do different isotopes of the same element differ?

Answer 1

When two atoms of the same elements have different numbers of neutrons and also have different masses. They are known as isotopes of that element.

Complete step by step answer:
- Isotopes generally occur naturally and so thus the percentage abundance of two isotopes can be calculated using the atomic mass and the average atomic masses. Atomic weight or atomic mass is the mass of an atom. The atomic mass is usually expressed in Dalton. The difference in isotopes is due to the difference in the number of neutrons, the isotopes differ in their atomic weight, density, atomic volume, melting and boiling point.
- The isotopes generally have the same physical and chemical properties and the atomic number of isotopes are also the same. This means that the isotopes have the same number of protons. The isotopes differ in their atomic weight and density etc.

Additional Information: The percentage abundance of isotopes of an element is determined using the given formula:
$a=\dfrac{b(x)+c(100-x)}{100}$
Here, a = average atomic masses
b = atomic mass of one isotope
C= atomic mass of second isotope
And, x = percentage abundance of the first isotope

Note: If we talk about isobars, these are those elements which have the same mass number but different atomic number. Let’s take an example, argon and calcium both have the same mass number i.e. 20 but their atomic numbers are different i.e. 18 for argon and 20 for calcium.