Chemistry HESI A2 Practice Test Related

Review Chemistry HESI A2 Practice Test related questions and content

Carbon-12 and carbon-14 are isotopes. What do they have in common?

  • A. Number of nuclear particles
  • B. Number of protons
  • C. Number of neutrons
  • D. Mass number
Correct Answer: C

Rationale: Isotopes are atoms of the same element with the same number of protons (which determines the element) but different numbers of neutrons. Both carbon-12 and carbon-14 have 6 protons (hence they are both carbon atoms) but different numbers of neutrons: carbon-12 has 6 neutrons, while carbon-14 has 8 neutrons. Therefore, the correct answer is the number of neutrons. Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because isotopes may have different numbers of nuclear particles (protons + neutrons), protons, and mass numbers, respectively.