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The neutron number (symbol N) is the number of neutrons in a nuclide. Atomic number (proton number) plus neutron number equals mass number: Z + N = A. The difference between the neutron number and the atomic number is known as the neutron excess: D = N − Z = A − 2Z. Neutron number is not written explicitly in nuclide symbol notation, but ...
The atomic number determines the chemical properties of the atom, and the neutron number determines the isotope or nuclide. [7]: 4 The terms isotope and nuclide are often used synonymously, but they refer to chemical and nuclear properties, respectively. [7]: 4 Isotopes are nuclides with the same atomic number, but different neutron number.
The mass number is different for each isotope of a given chemical element, and the difference between the mass number and the atomic number Z gives the number of neutrons (N) in the nucleus: N = A − Z. [2] The mass number is written either after the element name or as a superscript to the left of an element's symbol.
In physics, mirror nuclei are a pair of isobars of two different elements where the number of protons of isobar one (Z 1) equals the number of neutrons of isobar two (N 2) and the number of protons of isotope two (Z 2) equals the number of neutrons in isotope one (N 1); in short: Z 1 = N 2 and Z 2 = N 1.
Each atomic number identifies a specific element, but not the isotope; an atom of a given element may have a wide range in its number of neutrons. The number of nucleons (both protons and neutrons) in the nucleus is the atom's mass number, and each isotope of a given element has a different mass number.
The atomic number or nuclear charge number (symbol Z) of a chemical element is the charge number of its atomic nucleus. For ordinary nuclei composed of protons and neutrons, this is equal to the proton number (n p) or the number of protons found in the nucleus of every atom of that element.
A table or chart of nuclides is a two-dimensional graph of isotopes of the elements, in which one axis represents the number of neutrons (symbol N) and the other represents the number of protons (atomic number, symbol Z) in the atomic nucleus. Each point plotted on the graph thus represents a nuclide of a known or hypothetical chemical element.
The neutron number has large effects on nuclear properties, but its effect on chemical reactions is negligible for most elements. Even in the case of the very lightest elements, where the ratio of neutron number to atomic number varies the most between isotopes, it usually has only a small effect, but it matters in some circumstances.