If an unstable isotope contained 5 protons and 8 neutrons, how many neutrons would need to decay to make the unstable isotope stable? Please Help!
To determine the number of neutrons that would need to decay to make the unstable isotope stable, we need to first identify the stable isotope with the same number of protons.
We have an unstable isotope with 5 protons. To find the stable isotope, we can consult the periodic table of elements. From the periodic table, we find that the element with 5 protons is boron (B).
Now, let's analyze the number of neutrons in the unstable isotope. The unstable isotope contains 8 neutrons.
To identify the stable isotope of boron, we need to find the one with the same number of protons (5) but a different number of neutrons. From the periodic table, we can see that the stable isotope of boron has 6 neutrons.
To calculate the number of neutrons that would need to decay, we need to subtract the number of neutrons in the stable isotope (6) from the number of neutrons in the unstable isotope (8).
8 - 6 = 2
Therefore, 2 neutrons would need to decay for the unstable isotope with 5 protons and 8 neutrons to become stable.