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The darker more stable isotope region departs from the line of protons (Z) = neutrons (N), as the element number Z becomes larger. Isotopes are nuclides with the same number of protons but differing numbers of neutrons; that is, they have the same atomic number and are therefore the same chemical element. Isotopes neighbor each other vertically.
Atoms with equal numbers of protons but a different number of neutrons are different isotopes of the same element. For example, all hydrogen atoms admit exactly one proton, but isotopes exist with no neutrons (hydrogen-1, by far the most common form, [57] also called protium), one neutron , two neutrons and more than two neutrons.
Isotopes are nuclides having the same number of protons: e.g. carbon-12 and carbon-13. Isobars are nuclides having the same mass number (i.e. sum of protons plus neutrons): e.g. carbon-12 and boron-12. Nuclear isomers are different excited states of the same type of nucleus.
A nuclide is a species of an atom with a specific number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus, for example, carbon-13 with 6 protons and 7 neutrons. The nuclide concept (referring to individual nuclear species) emphasizes nuclear properties over chemical properties, whereas the isotope concept (grouping all atoms of each element) emphasizes chemical over nuclear.
The number of protons (Z column) and number of neutrons (N column). energy column The column labeled "energy" denotes the energy equivalent of the mass of a neutron minus the mass per nucleon of this nuclide (so all nuclides get a positive value) in MeV, formally: m n − m nuclide / A, where A = Z + N is the mass number. Note that this means ...
The difference between the neutron number and the atomic number is known as the neutron excess: D = N − Z = A − 2Z. Neutron number is not written explicitly in nuclide symbol notation, but can be inferred as it is the difference between the two left-hand numbers (atomic number and mass).
The difference of the actual isotopic mass minus the mass number of an atom is known as the mass excess, [8] which for 35 Cl is –0.03115. Mass excess should not be confused with mass defect which is the difference between the mass of an atom and its constituent particles (namely protons, neutrons and electrons). There are two reasons for mass ...
This remarkable difference of nuclear binding energy between neighbouring nuclei, especially of odd-A isobars, has important consequences: unstable isotopes with a nonoptimal number of neutrons or protons decay by beta decay (including positron decay), electron capture or more exotic means, such as spontaneous fission and cluster decay.