Question

What are the differences between the three isotopes of Gallium shown below?


a. the number of electrons and protons

b. the number of neutrons and the mass number

c. the number of electrons and the atomic number

d. the number of protons and the atomic number

choose the correct answer

Answer 1

To discuss the differences between the three isotopes of gallium, we first need to consider what isotopes are. Isotopes are variations of the same element that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. Gallium has several isotopes, with the most common being Gallium-69, Gallium-70, and Gallium-71.

Let's analyze the options:

a. The number of electrons and protons
- Isotopes of gallium have the same number of protons (31 for Gallium) and typically the same number of electrons when neutral. So, this option is incorrect.

b. The number of neutrons and the mass number
- Different isotopes of gallium have different numbers of neutrons (e.g., Gallium-69 has 38 neutrons, Gallium-70 has 39, Gallium-71 has 40). Therefore, they also have different mass numbers (69, 70, and 71, respectively). So, this option is correct.

c. The number of electrons and the atomic number
- The atomic number of gallium, which is 31, remains the same for all isotopes, while the number of electrons remains the same in neutral atoms. Hence, this option is incorrect.

d. The number of protons and the atomic number
- The number of protons in gallium (31) is the same for all isotopes, and the atomic number (also 31) is the same. Thus, this option is incorrect.

The correct answer is **b. the number of neutrons and the mass number**.