Archaeologists use carbon-14 to find the age of old bones and wood. Carbon has two main isotopes, carbon-12 and carbon-14.
The table shows the particles in the nucleus of each isotope.
| Isotope | Number of protons | Number of neutrons |
|---|---|---|
| carbon-12 | 6 | 6 |
| carbon-14 | 6 | 8 |
State what is meant by the mass number of an atom.
Give the mass number of carbon-14.
Give the number of electrons in an atom of carbon-14.
Use the table to explain why carbon-12 and carbon-14 are isotopes of the same element.
Carbon has a third isotope, carbon-13. Give the number of neutrons in an atom of carbon-13.
46 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE Chemistry 2.1 Atomic structure, covering 2.1.1 Development of the atomic model, 2.1.2 Structure of the atom and subatomic particles, 2.1.3 Mass number, isotopes and relative atomic mass, and 2.1.4 Calculating relative atomic mass from isotopic abundance. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.