An isotope contains 15 protons, 15 electrons, and 17 neutrons. What is the identity of the isotope?

Question

Chemistry

Xiomara Hatfield

21 November, 20:57

An isotope contains 15 protons, 15 electrons, and 17 neutrons. What is the identity of the isotope?

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Teagan Reeves · Answer 1

The isotope is phosphorus-32.

It possesses 15 protons that make it phosphorus, 15 electrons, thus, the charges get balanced, and it is electrically neutral. It has 17 neutrons, so in combination, it has 32 protons/neutrons in the nucleus. Therefore, the name is phosphorus-32.

The phosphorus-32 is a beta-emitter with a half-life of 14.3 days that is, used regularly in life-science projects, mainly to generate radiolabeled RNA and DNA probes, like for application in Southern Blots and Northern Blots.