Question

What are the isotopic symbol for 18 protons and 23 neutrons?

Answer 1

Hint: 18 protons means that the atomic number of the element is 18, and the element with the atomic number as 18 is argon \[Ar\] . For isotope, and the number of protons and neutrons.

Complete step-by-step answer:
To know the isotopic symbol of the required element, we first have to know which element is given in the question. As the number of protons given is 18, we can say that the element given in the question is argon \[Ar\].

An atomic number of any element is the number of protons residing inside the nucleus of an atom of that element. Atomic numbers can also be the number of electrons inside an atom of that element as the number of protons and electrons in an atom has to be the same to be stable.

A number of protons and electrons can be different but that element then becomes an unstable ion.
Now, generally, the number of protons and neutrons are the same in the nucleus of an atom, the symbol for a general atom of argon is \[_{{}}^{36}Ar\].

Adding the number of protons and neutrons given in the question gives us a total of 41. Thus, there are a total of 41 particles in the nucleus of an isotope of argon with 23 neutrons.

Therefore, \[_{{}}^{41}Ar\] is the required isotopic symbol having 18 protons and 23 neutrons.

Note: We always have to add the number of protons and neutrons to get the total number of particles inside the nucleus of the given isotopic element.