Question

The isotope of an atom containing 40 protons and 51 neutrons suddenly has two neutrons added to it.

What isotope is created?

Responses

Zirconium-93

Zirconium-93

Antimony-53

Antimony-53

Zirconium-53

Zirconium-53

Antimony-93

Answer 1

To identify the isotope created, we start with the original atom that has 40 protons and 51 neutrons.

- The number of protons (40) indicates that the element is Zirconium (Zr), as Zirconium has an atomic number of 40.
- The mass number can be calculated as the sum of protons and neutrons: 40 protons + 51 neutrons = 91.

So, the original isotope is Zirconium-91 (Zr-91).

Now, when two neutrons are added, the new number of neutrons becomes 51 + 2 = 53. The number of protons remains the same at 40.

Now we can calculate the new mass number:

- New mass number = 40 protons + 53 neutrons = 93.

The new isotope is Zirconium-93 (Zr-93).

Thus, the correct response is:

**Zirconium-93**.