Isotopes

• isotopes are distinct nuclides of the same element
  • examples:
    • protium (${}_1^1\mathrm{H}$): the most common hydrogen isotope (nucleus: proton)
    • deuterium (${}_1^2\mathrm{H}$ or $\mathrm{D}$) (nucleus: deuteron)
    • tritium (${}_1^3\mathrm{H}$ or $\mathrm{T}$) (nucleus: triton)
    • ${}_{}^{}{}_6^{12}\mathrm{C}$, ${}_{}^{}{}_6^{13}\mathrm{C}$, and ${}_{}^{}{}_6^{14}\mathrm{C}$ (radiocarbon) are isotopes of carbon.
• The natural abundance (NA) of an isotope is the percentage of that isotope that occurs in nature.

AZE Notation

${}_Z^A\mathrm{E}$

• $A$ is the mass number

• $Z$ is the atomic number (optional if the element is known)

• $\mathrm{E}$ (or $X$) is the chemical symbol of the element

• Examples:

  • (carbon-14) ${}_{}^{}{}_6^{14}\mathrm{C}$ or ${}_{}^{}{}_{}^{14}\mathrm{C}$
  • (neon-20) ${}_{}^{}{}_{10}^{20}\mathrm{Ne}$ or ${}_{}^{}{}_{}^{20}\mathrm{Ne}$

• Hyphen Notation: $\mathrm{E}\text{-}A$

  • $A$ is the mass number
  • $\mathrm{E}$ is the chemical symbol or name of the element
  • Examples:
    • (carbon-14) $\mathrm{C}\text{-}14$ or $\mathrm{carbon}\text{-}14$
    • (neon-20) $\mathrm{Ne}\text{-}20$ or $\mathrm{neon}\text{-}20$