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A chart or table of nuclides maps the nuclear, or radioactive, behavior of nuclides, as it distinguishes the isotopes of an element.It contrasts with a periodic table, which only maps their chemical behavior, since isotopes (nuclides that are variants of the same element) do not differ chemically to any significant degree, with the exception of hydrogen.
All elements have multiple isotopes, variants with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. For example, carbon has three naturally occurring isotopes: all of its atoms have six protons and most have six neutrons as well, but about one per cent have seven neutrons, and a very small fraction have eight neutrons. Isotopes are ...
An example is calcium-40, with 20 neutrons and 20 protons, which is the heaviest stable isotope made of the same number of protons and neutrons. Both calcium-48 and nickel-48 are doubly magic because calcium-48 has 20 protons and 28 neutrons while nickel-48 has 28 protons and 20 neutrons. Calcium-48 is very neutron-rich for such a relatively ...
Electrons are assigned to subshells in order of increasing value of n + l. For subshells with the same value of n + l, electrons are assigned first to the subshell with lower n. A version of the aufbau principle known as the nuclear shell model is used to predict the configuration of protons and neutrons in an atomic nucleus. [1]
Conversely, if it has more protons than electrons, it has a positive charge and is called a positive ion (or cation). The electrons of an atom are attracted to the protons in an atomic nucleus by the electromagnetic force. The protons and neutrons in the nucleus are attracted to each other by the nuclear force. This force is usually stronger ...
For example, a neutral chlorine atom has 17 protons and 17 electrons, whereas a Cl − anion has 17 protons and 18 electrons for a total charge of −1. All atoms of a given element are not necessarily identical, however. The number of neutrons may vary to form different isotopes, and energy levels may differ, resulting in different nuclear ...
Conversely, of the 251 known stable nuclides, only five have both an odd number of protons and odd number of neutrons: hydrogen-2 , lithium-6, boron-10, nitrogen-14, and tantalum-180m. Also, only four naturally occurring, radioactive odd–odd nuclides have a half-life >10 9 years: potassium-40 , vanadium-50 , lanthanum-138 , and lutetium-176 .
For example, uranium-238 usually decays by alpha decay, where the nucleus loses two neutrons and two protons in the form of an alpha particle. Thus the atomic number and the number of neutrons each decrease by 2 ( Z : 92 → 90, N : 146 → 144), so that the mass number decreases by 4 ( A = 238 → 234); the result is an atom of thorium-234 and ...