Question

What are the ways in which carbon-12, carbon-13 and carbon-14 are alike?
A) They are isomers
B) They are isotopes
C) They are isobars
D) None of them

Answer 1

Hint: The \[^{12}{C_6}\] is an isotope having no. of protons= $6$, no. of neutrons=$6$ and mass number= $12$
We must know that to identify the most common isotope we can detect it by knowing its stability and its abundance. Isotopes are the species having varying mass numbers, to be precise the same no. of protons but different no. of neutrons.

Complete step by step answer:
Before getting this question solved, we need to know about the isotopes.
We need to remember that the isotopes are nothing but a small variant of any chemical element in which there is a difference in the number of neutrons but the number of protons will be the same in each atom.
Option A) this is an incorrect option as Isomers are the species that have the same molecular formula but different structural formula. But these different Carbons will have different mass numbers due to which they cannot be isomers.
Option B) This is a correct option as these carbon-$12$, carbon-$13$ and carbon-$14$ are alike if they are isotopes.
Isotopes are nothing but a small variant of any chemical element in which there is a difference in the number of neutrons but the number of protons will be the same in each atom.
\[^{12}{C_6}{,^{13}}{C_6}{,^{14}}{C_6}\]
For \[^{12}{C_6}\]:
Atomic number = $6$ (No. of protons)
Mass number = $12$ (No. of neutrons + no. of protons)
For \[^{13}{C_6}\]:
Atomic number = $6$ (No. of protons)
Mass number = $13$ (No. of neutrons + no. of protons)
For \[^{14}{C_6}\]:
Atomic number = $6$ (No. of protons)
Mass number = $14$ (No. of neutrons + no. of protons)
So, these isotopes of Carbon, the atomic number in all, are the same i.e. $6$ and only the mass number is changing which represents isotopes.
Option C) this is an incorrect option as isobars are the species that have different elements but have the same number of nucleons.
Option D) this is an incorrect option as we got a correct option as B.

Hence, the correct answer is, ‘Option B’.

Note: The \[^{12}{C_6}{,^{13}}{C_6}{,^{14}}{C_6}\] these are different isotopes of carbon which has same atomic number or number of protons but different mass number or number of nucleons.