Isotopes

Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing numbers of neutrons. Atoms of a particular element by definition must contain the same number of protons but mayhave a distinct number of neutrons which differs from atom to atom, without changing the designation of the atom as a particular element. The number of nucleons (protons and neutrons) in the nucleus,known as the mass number, is not the same for two isotopes of any element. For example, carbon-12, carbon-13 and carbon-14 are three isotopes of the element carbon with mass numbers 12, 13 and 14respectively. The atomic number of carbon is 6 (every carbon atom has 6 protons); therefore the neutron numbers in these isotopes are 6, 7 and 8 respectively.
A nuclide is an atom with a specific numberof protons and neutrons in the nucleus, for example carbon-13 with 6 protons and 7 neutrons. The nuclide concept (referring to individual nuclear species) emphasizes nuclear properties over chemicalproperties, while the isotope concept (grouping all atoms of each element) emphasizes chemical over nuclear. The neutron number has drastic effects on nuclear properties, but its effect on chemicalproperties is negligible in most elements, and still quite small in the case of the very lightest elements, although it does matter in some circumstances (for hydrogen, the lightest of all elements, theisotope effect is large enough to strongly affect biology). Since isotope is the older term, it is better known than nuclide, and is still sometimes used in contexts where nuclide might be moreappropriate, such as nuclear technology and nuclear medicine.
An isotope and/or nuclide is specified by the name of the particular element (this indicates the atomic number implicitly) followed by a hyphenand the mass number (e.g. helium-3, helium-4, carbon-12, carbon-14, uranium-235 and uranium-239). When a chemical symbol is used, e.g., "C" for carbon, standard notation is to indicate the number...