Question

What is the symbol (including the atomic number, mass number, and element symbol) for the nitrogen isotope with 8 neutrons? Express your answer as an isotope with stacked prescripts.

Answer 1

Answer: The isotope is represented as $_7^{15}\textrm{N}$

Explanation:

General representation of an element is given as:$_Z^A\textrm{X}$

where,

Z represents Atomic number

A represents Mass number

X represents the symbol of an element

Atomic number is defined as the number of protons or number of electrons that are present in an atom.

Atomic number = Number of electrons = Number of protons  = 7 (for nitrogen)

Mass number is defined as the sum of number of protons and neutrons that are present in an atom.

Mass number = Number of protons + Number of neutrons = 7+8 = 15

Thus the isotope is represented as $_7^{15}\textrm{N}$