Prof. Bella Zemlak IV
Dec 07, 2024
How many protons and how many neutrons are in (a) 3He, (b) 20Ne, (c) 60Co?
I need some assistance with a question about protons and neutrons. I understand the basics, but I feel like I'm missing something important. Could you please explain how to determine the number of protons and neutrons in the following isotopes: (a) ³He, (b) ²⁰Ne, and (c) ⁶⁰Co? Thank you in advance for your help!
1 Answers
You need a periodic table or similar.
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For 3He (helium-3):
1) Look up helium’s atomic number (e.g. from the periodic table).
You will find it is 2 That means it contains 2 protons. Z=2.
(You should probably remember this as it is physics ‘general knowledge’; also remember that hydrogen has atomic number=1.)
2) We are looking at 3He. The ‘3’ is the total number of protons + neutrons. To get the number of neutrons, subtract Z from 3.
3-2=1. So there is 1 neutron. N=1.
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The same method is used for 20Ne and 60Co.
If that’s not clear, watch the first 3 or 4 minutes of the video in the link, which explains this more clearly.
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