A particular isotope of plutonium has 94 protons, 147 neutrons, and a mass number of 241.
Explanation:
An atom is identified by two numbers:
- Atomic number: it is equal to the number of protons contained in the nucleus. It is indicated with the letter Z
- Mass number: it is equal to the sum of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. It is indicated with the letter A
Mathematically, this can be rewritten as
[tex]Z=p[/tex]
[tex]A=p+n[/tex]
where
p is the number of protons
n is the number of neutrons
For the isotope of plutonium in this problem, we have
[tex]Z=p=94[/tex], since it has 94 protons
[tex]A=p+n=241[/tex] (mass number)
From the second equation we get
[tex]n=241-p[/tex]
And substituting [tex]p=94[/tex], we find the number of neutrons:
[tex]n=241-94=147[/tex]
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