Isotopes and

Radioactivity
 Every element in the periodic table is represented with a certain letter or a pair of
letters. For example, oxygen is represented with a capital O and silicon is represented
with an Si.
 At the bottom left of these symbols is a value we call the atomic number. It tells us the
number of protons found in the nucleus of an atom of that element usually.
 At the top left id the atomic mass, which tells us the number of nucleons (protons AND
neutrons).
 We can change the number of particles in the nucleus of an atom. This creates an isotope
of that element.

 Regular hydrogen has only a single proton in its nucleus. We can add a neutron to this
particle to make the first isotope of hydrogen called deuterium. If we add another after
that, we create the next isotope, tritium.
 If we add too many particles to a nucleus, we risk making it too heavy.
 If a nucleus gets too heavy, the forces of repulsion between the protons become too
much to balance out.
 When this happens, the nucleus begins emitting, or shooting out, particles. We now
say the particle is radioactive.