Question

What are the stable isotopes of nitrogen?

Answer 1

Hint :There are mainly three isotopes of nitrogen and only two of them are stable. There are lots of isotopes of nitrogen but the mainly found in nature are only three, namely \[^{13}N\] , \[^{14}N\], and \[^{15}N\]. Of which, isotope \[^{14}N\] and isotope \[^{15}N\] are the stable ones.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
Nitrogen is the most abundant element found in the atmosphere, it covers almost 78% of all the atmosphere. Nitrogen is the most important element for the survival of plants, which is one of the most important elements for the survival of human beings.
Nitrogen in total has 18 isotopes including two excited nuclear isotopes. They range from \[^{10}N\] to \[^{25}N\] , with \[^{11}N\]and \[^{16}N\] contributing excited nuclear isomers. But, mainly only three isotopes are found in nature, namely \[^{13}N\] , \[^{14}N\] and \[^{15}N\] .
And, the most found amongst the above-given isotopes is isotope \[^{14}N\] . This isotope is found the most in nature and contributes almost 99.6% of total nitrogen in existence in the nature of the earth.
And the half-life of isotope \[^{13}N\] is around 9.965(4) minutes, the longest of all isotopes.
Out of all these 18 isotopes, isotope \[^{14}N\] and isotope \[^{15}N\] are the most stable ones found in nature.
Even though the isotope \[^{13}N\] has the biggest half-life, it is not a stable isotope.
Thus, there are only two stable isotopes of nitrogen namely \[^{14}N\] and \[^{15}N\] .

Note :
As the list of isotopes of nitrogen is big, it is necessary to look out for mixing up the stable isotopes with other ones. Also, the isotope \[^{13}N\] has the most half-life, which can confuse seeing that it is not a stable isotope.