Isotopes

We now have a clear interpretation of the fact that helium is close to four times more massive than hydrogen, and similarly for all the atomic masses that are close to an integer multiple of the mass of hydrogen. But what about copper, for instance, which had an atomic mass 63.5 times that of hydrogen? It didn't seem reasonable to think that it possessed an extra half of a neutron! The solution was found by measuring the mass-to-charge ratios of singly-ionized atoms (atoms with one electron removed). The technique is essentially that same as the one used by Thomson for cathode rays, except that whole atoms do not spontaneously leap out of the surface of an object as electrons sometimes do. The figure shows an example of how the ions can be created and injected between the charged plates for acceleration.

A version of the Thomson apparatus modified for measuring the mass-to-charge ratios of ions rather than elec-trons. A small sample of the element in question, copper in our example, is boiled in the oven to create a thin va-por. (A vacuum pump is continuously sucking on the main chamber to keep it from accumulating enough gas to stop the beam of ions.) Some of the atoms of the vapor are ionized by a spark or by ultraviolet light. Ions that wander out of the nozzle and into the region between the charged plates are then accelerated toward the top of the figure. As in the Thomson experiment, mass-to-charge ratios are inferred from the deflection of the beam.

Injecting a stream of copper ions into the device, we find a surprise - the beam splits into two parts! Chemists had elevated to dogma the assump-tion that all the atoms of a given element were identical, but we find that 69% of copper atoms have one mass, and 31% have another. Not only that, but both masses are very nearly integer multiples of the mass of hydrogen (63 and 65, respectively). Copper gets its chemical identity from the number of protons in its nucleus, 29, since chemical reactions work by electric forces. But apparently some copper atoms have 63-29=34 neutrons while others have 65-29=36. The atomic mass of copper, 63.5, reflects the proportions of the mixture of the mass-63 and mass-65 varieties. The different mass varieties of a given element are called isotopes of that element.

Isotopes can be named by giving the mass number as a subscript to the left of the chemical symbol, e.g. ⁶⁵Cu. Examples:

Self-Check	Why are the positive and negative charges of the accelerating plates reversed in the isotope-separating apparatus compared to the Thomson apparatus?
Answer	Thomson was accelerating electrons, which are negatively charged. This apparatus is supposed to accelerate atoms with one electron stripped off, which have positive net charge. In both cases, a particle that is between the plates should be attracted by the forward plate and repelled by the plate behind it.

Chemical reactions are all about the exchange and sharing of electrons: the nuclei have to sit out this dance because the forces of electrical repulsion prevent them from ever getting close enough to make contact with each other. Although the protons do have a vitally important effect on chemical processes because of their electrical forces, the neutrons can have no effect on the atom's chemical reactions. It is not possible, for instance, to separate ⁶³Cu from ⁶⁵Cu by chemical reactions. This is why chemists had never realized that different isotopes existed. (To be perfectly accurate, different isotopes do behave slightly differently because the more massive atoms move more sluggishly and therefore react with a tiny bit less intensity. This tiny difference is used, for instance, to separate out the isotopes of uranium needed to build a nuclear bomb. The smallness of this effect makes the separation process a slow and difficult one, which is what we have to thank for the fact that nuclear weapons have not been built by every terrorist cabal on the planet.)