In certain types of radioactive decay, the isotope releases a particle called an alpha particle, which contains two protons and two neutrons. When this happens, is the product still the same element? Why or why not?

Video transcript

Hey, everyone. Let's take a look at this question together. Carbon 14 is an isotope used in determining the age of fossils. How many electrons does carbon 14 have? Is it answer choice? A 13 answer choice B 14 answer choice C seven or answer choice D six. Let's work this problem out together to try to figure out which of the following answer choices is the number of electrons that are present in carbon 14. So in order to solve this question, we have to recall what we have learned about isotopes and how to determine how many electrons are present in the isotope carbon 14, which we know that the isotope carbon 14 contains six protons, which is the atomic number of carbon. It contains eight neutrons, which is calculated by the mass number subtracted by the atomic number where the mass number is 14 and the atomic number is six. So 14 subtracted by six equals eight, which is the number of neutrons. And lastly, since carbon 14 is a neutral atom, it must contain the same number of electrons as protons or the atomic number subtracted by the charge on the atom. And in this case the atomic number is six and the charge is zero since there is no charge on carbon 14 resulting in six electrons. So carbon 14 contains six protons, neutrons and six electrons making answer choice. D six, the correct answer and all other values are incorrect. I hope you found this video to be helpful. Thank you and goodbye.