this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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Explain Like I'm Five

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How is a chemical 'element' differentiated from it's isotopes? (self.explainlikeimfive)
submitted 1 year ago by OmegaMouse to c/explainlikeimfive@lemmy.world
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It's been a while since I was taught Chemistry, but I was reading something the other day and I couldn't quite get my head around the concept.

So the periodic table shows elements with their atomic numbers (protons) and atomic weight (protons + neutrons). Isotopes have different numbers of neutrons, like carbon-12 and carbon-13 which I believe would have 6 and 7 neurons respectively.

So why is carbon-12 the 'default' option, shown on the periodic table? Is it to do with which version of carbon is the most common? I don't understand how we decide what makes up the pure version of an element/ it's atomic weight as shown on the periodic table

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[–] HootinNHollerin@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

It’s most prevalent