Question

An element has $ 12 $ neutrons in its nucleus. To which group of the periodic table it will belong?
(A) $ 1 $
(B) $ 2 $
(C) $ 6 $
(D) Impossible to predict.

Answer 1

Hint: Electronic configuration is the arrangement of electrons in different orbits and in its orbitals. Orbits i.e. $ 1,2,3... $ and orbitals i.e. $ s - ,p - ,d - $ . And the group will be the number of decisions accordingly.

Complete step by step solution:
Let us first talk about what atoms are.
Atoms: They are defined as the smallest particle of any substance. They cannot be broken into pieces further. Atoms consist of three types of elements i.e. electrons, protons and neutrons.
Element: It is defined as the smallest part of any substance. They are made of the same type of atoms. They are basically of two types i.e. metals and non-metals. For example: hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, etc.
We can find the position of an element if we know its atomic number or the number of electrons or protons in it because the number of electrons or protons in an atom is equal to its atomic number. But the number of neutrons may vary. There is no such rule for the number of neutrons in an atom. So if we only know the number of neutrons in an atom then we cannot find the position of that atom in the periodic table.
Here in this question we are given that an element has $ 12 $ neutrons in its nucleus so we cannot predict the position of the element in the periodic table.
Hence option D is correct.

Note:
Isotopes: Those elements which have the same atomic number but different atomic mass. For example: $ C - 12 $ and $ C - 13 $ . They both have the same atomic number i.e. $ 6 $ but different atomic mass i.e. in $ C - 12 $ mass is $ 12 $ and in $ C - 13 $ mass is $ 13 $ .
Isobars: Those elements which have the same atomic mass but different atomic numbers. For example: argon and calcium. The atomic number of argon is $ 18 $ and that of calcium is $ 20 $ but the atomic mass of both the elements is the same i.e. $ 40 $ .