The latter are called radioisotopes. An isotopic signature is the set of ratios between the amount of the various isotopes of an element in a sample. For example, the naturally occurring isotope ...

and the sum of the protons and neutrons gives the atomic mass, the number of neutrons defines the isotope of that element. For example, most carbon (≈ 99 %) has 6 protons and 6 neutrons and is written ...

Isotopes of an element share the same number of protons but have different numbers of neutrons. Let’s use carbon as an example. There are three isotopes of carbon found in nature – carbon-12 ...

However, most elements have multiple unstable isotopes that will slowly decay over time, releasing radiation and turning into something quite different. For example, carbon’s most common is ...

An international collaboration of scientists working with the FAIR Phase 0 program at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für ...

Photograph by Mark Thiessen, Nat Geo Image Collection Isotope signatures are extremely useful for researchers. For example, plants absorb stable carbon-12 and carbon-13 isotopes, which have a ...