High School

Typically, nitrogen atoms are composed of electrons, protons, and neutrons. An isotope of nitrogen could:

A. have more protons than the usual nitrogen atom.
B. have more neutrons than the usual nitrogen atom.
C. be negatively charged.
D. be positively charged.

Answer :

Final answer:

A nitrogen isotope would have more neutrons than the typical nitrogen atom. Altering the proton count changes the element, not an isotope. Similarly, changes in electron number create ions, not isotopes.

Explanation:

The subject of the question is an isotopic variation of a nitrogen atom. Atoms of the same element can vary in their neutron number, creating isotopes. As a rule, the number of protons defines an element, so option A is incorrect: altering the proton count would create a different element, not an isotope of nitrogen. For a nitrogen atom, increasing the number of neutrons (option B) would result in an isotope. Options C and D involve the atom being negatively or positively charged, which occurs due to a change in the total number of electrons compared to protons, resulting in an ion, not an isotope.

Learn more about Isotopes here:

https://brainly.com/question/11680817

#SPJ2

An isotope of nitrogen refers to a variant of nitrogen with a different number of neutrons than the usual nitrogen atom. The usual nitrogen atom has 7 protons and 7 neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of approximately 14 atomic mass units. Isotopes of nitrogen can have different numbers of neutrons, resulting in different atomic masses.

Therefore, the correct answer is B) have more neutrons than the usual nitrogen atom.