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Carbonado |
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Isotopes
An isotope is an atom of the same element, in this case carbon, with a different atomic weight, due to the presence of a different number of neutrons in its nucleus. It therefore follows that carbonado is a polymorph rather than an isotope. In fact, as carbon is an element, then carbonado is also an allotrope of carbon.
Carbon is an element whose atomic number is 6, meaning that it is the sixth element in the Periodic Table, and has 6 protons, and 6 electrons. It also normally has 6 protons, giving it an atomic weight of 12. In practice, as it has two other isotopes, its actual atomic weight is usually quoted as 12.0107.
The normal, stable isotope is known as Carbon-12 (12C). The other two isotopes are Carbon-13 and Carbon-14. Carbon-13 is stable (not radio-active), while Carbon-14 is radio-active with a half life of 5,730 years, and is very useful for carbon dating. Other isotopes exist, but these have half-lives from under one second to less than 21 minutes.
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