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zoe asked in Science & MathematicsChemistry · 3 years ago

Can you fill out this fact thing for Phosphorus?

Name: Phosphorus

Symbol: P

Atomic Number: 15

Atomic Mass:

Number of

Protons:

Electrons:

Neutrons:

The main Isotopes are:

3 Answers

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  • John
    Lv 7
    3 years ago

    The point isn't to fill in the blanks, the point is to understand what phosphorus is about. It's one of your more interesting elements, in fact.

  • 3 years ago

    P

    A.No. 15

    A.Mass = 31

    No. of protons = 15 (Always the same as the A.No.)

    No. Electrons = 15 ( Always equal to the number of protons and the A.No. when in the uncharged state)

    No. Neutrons = 16 (Can vary for different isotopes. The sum of the protons and neutrons equals the A.Mass value; '31' in this case).

    There are two isotopes of Phosphorus. The only Stable isotope is (31/15)P

    The unstable radioactive isotope of phosphorus is Phosphorus-32 (32/15)P which has an half life of 14.3 days.

    (32/15)P contains 17 neutrons. ( 17 + 15 = 32) .

  • 3 years ago

    All of this info is readily available for someone who knows what the question is asking. If you don't, you jolly well should find out. This is really basic stuff. https://ptable.com/#Isotope

    There is one major flaw with this. If this is a "form" for various elements it makes little sense to ask about the number of neutrons. Unless, there is only one stable isotope of the element, then there will be different numbers of neutrons. You really need to understand the difference between the atomic mass of an element (the weighted average of the naturally occurring isotopes) and the mass number (the sum of the protons and the neutrons). The two are NOT the same and never should be substituted for the other.

    Phosphorous just happens to have only one stable isotope, P-31, so you can answer with a specific number of neutrons. But if the element had been sulfur, for instance, then there are four stable isotopes and each one has a different number of neutrons. Therefore, the part about the number of neutrons would be nonsense for sulfur. (And you sure can t use the atomic weight to determine the number of neutrons. That s more nonsense, and shows a lack of understanding on the part of the question writer.)

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