What is difference between stable and unstable elements?
An atom is stable if the forces among the particles that makeup the nucleus are balanced. An atom is unstable (radioactive) if these forces are unbalanced; if the nucleus has an excess of internal energy.
What makes an isotope stable or unstable?
Nuclear Stability is a concept that helps to identify the stability of an isotope. The two main factors that determine nuclear stability are the neutron/proton ratio and the total number of nucleons in the nucleus.
What is a of the differences between stable isotope and radioactive isotopes?
The key difference between stable isotopes and radioisotopes is that stable isotopes do not undergo radioactive decay whereas radioisotopes undergo radioactive decay.
What is the main difference between stable and unstable isotopes quizlet?
Stable isotopes are not radioactive nor dangerous. Unstable isotopes are radioactive and have a different mass number of the element.
What are unstable isotopes called?
A radioisotope is an isotope of an element that is unstable and undergoes radioactive decay.
How many isotopes are unstable?
Only 90 isotopes are expected to be perfectly stable, and an additional 162 are energetically unstable, but have never been observed to decay. Thus, 252 isotopes (nuclides) are stable by definition (including tantalum-180m, for which no decay has yet been observed).
What defines a stable isotope?
Stable isotopes are non-radioactive forms of atoms. Although they do not emit radiation, their unique properties enable them to be used in a broad variety of applications, including water and soil management, environmental studies, nutrition assessment studies and forensics.
Why are all isotopes with Z 83 unstable?
All other stable nuclei have a higher neutron-to-proton ratio, which increases steadily to about 1.5 for the heaviest nuclei. Regardless of the number of neutrons, however, all elements with Z > 83 are unstable and radioactive.
What is the difference between radioactive and nonradioactive isotopes?
Answer. A nonradioactive isotope has a regular balance of protons, neutrons and electrons. An isotope becomes radioactive if it has too many neutrons, which causes the isotope to become unstable.
What are some examples of stable isotopes?
Commonly analysed stable isotopes include oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and sulfur. These isotope systems have been under investigation for many years in order to study processes of isotope fractionation in natural systems because they are relatively simple to measure.
Are all isotopes unstable?
Isotope Facts There are two main types of isotopes: stable and unstable (radioactive). There are 254 known stable isotopes. All artificial (lab-made) isotopes are unstable and therefore radioactive; scientists call them radioisotopes. Some elements can only exist in an unstable form (for example, uranium).
How are isotopes different?
Isotopes. An isotope is one of two or more forms of the same chemical element. Different isotopes of an element have the same number of protons in the nucleus, giving them the same atomic number, but a different number of neutrons giving each elemental isotope a different atomic weight.