How many neutrons are in calcium?

Answer 1

#"Usually 20 neutrons............"#

Why #"usually.........?"#

Every calcium nucleus contains 20 positively charged, nucular particles, #"20 protons"#. This is what defines the nuclide as a calcium nucleus, i.e. #Z=20#. However, the nucleus can contain varying numbers of neutrons. Most calcium nuclei (approx. 97%) contain #20# neutrons.........to give the #""^40Ca# isotope. There are much smaller percentages of the #""^42Ca# and the #""^44Ca# isotopes. The weighted average of all the isotopic masses gives the atomic mass reported on the Periodic Table, i.e. #40.1*g*mol^-1#. Clear?

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Answer 2

Cooper Adams

Neutrons in calcium usually number twenty.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.