Question

How do isotopes of carbon differ from one another?

Answer 1

Hint: Isotopes are the species which have the same atomic number but different atomic mass. Carbon has three major isotopes which have a difference in their chemical and physical properties.

Complete step by step answer:
Carbon is one of the abundant elements on earth. Carbon is a tetravalent element which can form polymers and a large variety of organic compounds. It forms many allotropes like graphite and diamond.
There are majorly three types of isotopes of carbon which exist. Isotopes are the species which have the same atomic number but different atomic mass. The three isotopes of carbon are: carbon-12 \[\left( {^{12}C} \right)\] , which is the most abundant of all, comprising of about \[98.93\% \] of total carbon present on earth; second is carbon-13 \[\left( {^{13}C} \right)\] and carbon-14 \[\left( {^{14}C} \right)\]. Although there are fifteen isotopes of carbon present in nature we will only consider the most abundant ones here in this question.
Out of the three of them, carbon-14 is radioactive in nature and is present in the least amount. Thus, carbon-14 is not stable but carbon-12 and carbon-13 are much more stable than carbon-14. It is present in the upper layer of the atmosphere. The amount of this isotope remains constant in living bodies but it decreases gradually in dead bodies and that’s why this isotope is almost negligible in ancient entities and rocks and hence, it is used in carbon dating.
The number of protons and electrons are the same in each isotope but the number of neutrons is not the same and that’s why there is a difference in the atomic mass of these isotopes. Carbon-12 has six neutrons in its nucleus, carbon-13 has seven neutrons and carbon-14 has eight neutrons.

Note: \[^8C\] is one of the isotopes of carbon which is the shortest-lived isotope amongst all others.it decays through proton emission and alpha decay. The other isotope is \[^{19}C\], which exhibits a nuclear halo.