Idea 1of 7Builds onThe thermal tax
Same element, different nucleus
Two chlorine atoms weigh differently. Are they both chlorine?
Today you'll discover
- what makes an atom the element it is
- what can differ between two atoms of one element
- the word for the two versions
Think firstTwo chlorine nuclei, one heavier than the other
Two atoms have the same protons, but one has two more neutrons. Are both chlorine?
Decide first, then press Next. Count protons, then neutrons.
Two packed balls of discs at the top of the picture, the right-hand one with two extra hatched discs looped by a dashed line, and a periodic-table cell in the corner. After a prediction, the extra neutrons are picked out, then both nuclei named. The last step asks what differs between carbon-12 and carbon-14.
See the whole ideathe big idea and the key word, in one place
The big idea
Isotopes: the same protons, a different number of neutrons.
Compare themChemistry rearranges electrons and never changes an element. Nuclear processes change the nucleus and can turn one element into another.
Key word
- isotope
- atoms of one element with the same number of protons and a different number of neutrons
About this modelThe bars are a census of a huge crowd of atoms, not of two atoms: no single atom ever weighs 35.45, and the nuclei are drawn hugely larger than to scale.
The bars are a census of a huge crowd of atoms, not of two atoms: no single atom ever weighs 35.45, and the nuclei are drawn hugely larger than to scale.
Ready to use it?
- Give the proton and neutron counts of a named isotope, and say what it shares with its sibling.