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Welcome to our Physics lesson on Isotopes and Isobars, this is the sixth lesson of our suite of physics lessons covering the topic of Atomic Nucleus and Its Structural Properties, you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional physics learning resources below this lesson.
If the number of protons Z in two different atoms is equal but the number of neutrons differs, these atoms are known as isotopes. However, both atoms still represent the same chemical element despite having a different atomic mass. For example, the isotopes of Lithium, Li range from A = 3 to A = 12. This means a lithium atom may contain from 0 to 9 neutrons as Z (He) = 3. Isotopes have slight variations in their physical and chemical behavior.
On the other hand, if two different chemical elements have the same number of nucleons A, they are called isobars. Obviously, isobars differ from each other much more than isotopes, as isobars represent different materials, despite the atomic mass is almost equal. For example, S-40, Cl-40, Ar-40, K-40, and Ca-40 are all isobars because all of them contain 40 particles in their respective nuclei. However, the difference in naming them indicates that they belong to different elements. Thus, from the periodic table shown above, we can see that the atomic numbers Z of these elements are 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 respectively.
You have reached the end of Physics lesson 20.1.6 Isotopes and Isobars. There are 9 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Atomic Nucleus and Its Structural Properties, you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.
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