Is an isobar the same as an isotope?











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I am a little bit confused about what an isobar is. Its online definition is that it's an element with the same number of neutrons but a different number of protons from an element $ce{X}$.




  1. To me, it doesn't make sense from the get-go, because once you change the number of protons the element changes as well so why exactly is it defined as the same element $ce{X}$ with the same number of neutrons and a different number of protons.


  2. Definition of an isotope: An isotope is an element $ce{X}$ with the same number of protons and a different number of neutrons.



So to the actual question now. Isn't an isobar just an isotope? Here is an example to clarify what I mean.
If we take for example carbon $ce{^12C(p:6, n:6)}$ and turn it into an isotope it will be $ce{^13C(p:6, n:7)}$, and that makes sense, but if we turn it into an isobar it would be $ce{^13C(p:7, n:6)}$, which doesn't make sense, because it looks exactly like an isotope of nitrogen $ce{^13N(p:7, n:6)}$.



If the atomic number changes than the element changes as well. So isn't an isobar just an isotope of the following element with a smaller neutron number?










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  • 2




    Related: What are compounds with the same mass called? and What are isodiaphers?
    – Loong
    yesterday








  • 4




    To me an isobar is a line on a weather chart connecting points of the same atmospheric pressure.
    – Ross Millikan
    yesterday










  • @RossMillikan Me too. Maybe because my eldest brother was a USAF meteorologist, I pay more attention to that kind of isobar. Very confusing for the same word to mean very different things in different branches of science.
    – Monty Harder
    yesterday










  • @MontyHarder: wiki tells me that old greek βάρος (baros) means weight en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82. So the isobar = same mass/weight seems to be closer to the direct translation of the term than same pressure (which of course is the weight of the atmosphere per area) And btw. in the chart of nuclides you do have isobaric lines as well.
    – cbeleites
    12 hours ago















up vote
19
down vote

favorite
2












I am a little bit confused about what an isobar is. Its online definition is that it's an element with the same number of neutrons but a different number of protons from an element $ce{X}$.




  1. To me, it doesn't make sense from the get-go, because once you change the number of protons the element changes as well so why exactly is it defined as the same element $ce{X}$ with the same number of neutrons and a different number of protons.


  2. Definition of an isotope: An isotope is an element $ce{X}$ with the same number of protons and a different number of neutrons.



So to the actual question now. Isn't an isobar just an isotope? Here is an example to clarify what I mean.
If we take for example carbon $ce{^12C(p:6, n:6)}$ and turn it into an isotope it will be $ce{^13C(p:6, n:7)}$, and that makes sense, but if we turn it into an isobar it would be $ce{^13C(p:7, n:6)}$, which doesn't make sense, because it looks exactly like an isotope of nitrogen $ce{^13N(p:7, n:6)}$.



If the atomic number changes than the element changes as well. So isn't an isobar just an isotope of the following element with a smaller neutron number?










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Beatrice H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 2




    Related: What are compounds with the same mass called? and What are isodiaphers?
    – Loong
    yesterday








  • 4




    To me an isobar is a line on a weather chart connecting points of the same atmospheric pressure.
    – Ross Millikan
    yesterday










  • @RossMillikan Me too. Maybe because my eldest brother was a USAF meteorologist, I pay more attention to that kind of isobar. Very confusing for the same word to mean very different things in different branches of science.
    – Monty Harder
    yesterday










  • @MontyHarder: wiki tells me that old greek βάρος (baros) means weight en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82. So the isobar = same mass/weight seems to be closer to the direct translation of the term than same pressure (which of course is the weight of the atmosphere per area) And btw. in the chart of nuclides you do have isobaric lines as well.
    – cbeleites
    12 hours ago













up vote
19
down vote

favorite
2









up vote
19
down vote

favorite
2






2





I am a little bit confused about what an isobar is. Its online definition is that it's an element with the same number of neutrons but a different number of protons from an element $ce{X}$.




  1. To me, it doesn't make sense from the get-go, because once you change the number of protons the element changes as well so why exactly is it defined as the same element $ce{X}$ with the same number of neutrons and a different number of protons.


  2. Definition of an isotope: An isotope is an element $ce{X}$ with the same number of protons and a different number of neutrons.



So to the actual question now. Isn't an isobar just an isotope? Here is an example to clarify what I mean.
If we take for example carbon $ce{^12C(p:6, n:6)}$ and turn it into an isotope it will be $ce{^13C(p:6, n:7)}$, and that makes sense, but if we turn it into an isobar it would be $ce{^13C(p:7, n:6)}$, which doesn't make sense, because it looks exactly like an isotope of nitrogen $ce{^13N(p:7, n:6)}$.



If the atomic number changes than the element changes as well. So isn't an isobar just an isotope of the following element with a smaller neutron number?










share|improve this question









New contributor




Beatrice H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











I am a little bit confused about what an isobar is. Its online definition is that it's an element with the same number of neutrons but a different number of protons from an element $ce{X}$.




  1. To me, it doesn't make sense from the get-go, because once you change the number of protons the element changes as well so why exactly is it defined as the same element $ce{X}$ with the same number of neutrons and a different number of protons.


  2. Definition of an isotope: An isotope is an element $ce{X}$ with the same number of protons and a different number of neutrons.



So to the actual question now. Isn't an isobar just an isotope? Here is an example to clarify what I mean.
If we take for example carbon $ce{^12C(p:6, n:6)}$ and turn it into an isotope it will be $ce{^13C(p:6, n:7)}$, and that makes sense, but if we turn it into an isobar it would be $ce{^13C(p:7, n:6)}$, which doesn't make sense, because it looks exactly like an isotope of nitrogen $ce{^13N(p:7, n:6)}$.



If the atomic number changes than the element changes as well. So isn't an isobar just an isotope of the following element with a smaller neutron number?







terminology isotope






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edited yesterday









Martin - マーチン

33.1k9104224




33.1k9104224






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asked 2 days ago









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1017




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Beatrice H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Beatrice H. is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 2




    Related: What are compounds with the same mass called? and What are isodiaphers?
    – Loong
    yesterday








  • 4




    To me an isobar is a line on a weather chart connecting points of the same atmospheric pressure.
    – Ross Millikan
    yesterday










  • @RossMillikan Me too. Maybe because my eldest brother was a USAF meteorologist, I pay more attention to that kind of isobar. Very confusing for the same word to mean very different things in different branches of science.
    – Monty Harder
    yesterday










  • @MontyHarder: wiki tells me that old greek βάρος (baros) means weight en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82. So the isobar = same mass/weight seems to be closer to the direct translation of the term than same pressure (which of course is the weight of the atmosphere per area) And btw. in the chart of nuclides you do have isobaric lines as well.
    – cbeleites
    12 hours ago














  • 2




    Related: What are compounds with the same mass called? and What are isodiaphers?
    – Loong
    yesterday








  • 4




    To me an isobar is a line on a weather chart connecting points of the same atmospheric pressure.
    – Ross Millikan
    yesterday










  • @RossMillikan Me too. Maybe because my eldest brother was a USAF meteorologist, I pay more attention to that kind of isobar. Very confusing for the same word to mean very different things in different branches of science.
    – Monty Harder
    yesterday










  • @MontyHarder: wiki tells me that old greek βάρος (baros) means weight en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82. So the isobar = same mass/weight seems to be closer to the direct translation of the term than same pressure (which of course is the weight of the atmosphere per area) And btw. in the chart of nuclides you do have isobaric lines as well.
    – cbeleites
    12 hours ago








2




2




Related: What are compounds with the same mass called? and What are isodiaphers?
– Loong
yesterday






Related: What are compounds with the same mass called? and What are isodiaphers?
– Loong
yesterday






4




4




To me an isobar is a line on a weather chart connecting points of the same atmospheric pressure.
– Ross Millikan
yesterday




To me an isobar is a line on a weather chart connecting points of the same atmospheric pressure.
– Ross Millikan
yesterday












@RossMillikan Me too. Maybe because my eldest brother was a USAF meteorologist, I pay more attention to that kind of isobar. Very confusing for the same word to mean very different things in different branches of science.
– Monty Harder
yesterday




@RossMillikan Me too. Maybe because my eldest brother was a USAF meteorologist, I pay more attention to that kind of isobar. Very confusing for the same word to mean very different things in different branches of science.
– Monty Harder
yesterday












@MontyHarder: wiki tells me that old greek βάρος (baros) means weight en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82. So the isobar = same mass/weight seems to be closer to the direct translation of the term than same pressure (which of course is the weight of the atmosphere per area) And btw. in the chart of nuclides you do have isobaric lines as well.
– cbeleites
12 hours ago




@MontyHarder: wiki tells me that old greek βάρος (baros) means weight en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82. So the isobar = same mass/weight seems to be closer to the direct translation of the term than same pressure (which of course is the weight of the atmosphere per area) And btw. in the chart of nuclides you do have isobaric lines as well.
– cbeleites
12 hours ago










3 Answers
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accepted










Not quite, an isotope has same number of protons ($ A- N = Z = mathrm{constant}$), but a different number of neutrons ($mathrm N$ varies; e.g. $ce{^3_color{red}{1}H}$ and $ce{^2_color{red}{1}H}$, or $ce{^295_color{red}{92}U}$ and $ce{^238_color{red}{92}U}$ are isotopes).



An isobar has a fixed number of total nucleons ($Z + N = A = mathrm{constant}$; e.g. $ce{^color{red}{40}_19K}$ and $ce{^color{red}{40}_20Ca}$, or $ce{^color{red}{3}_2He}$ and $ce{^color{red}{3}_1H}$ are isobars). Not nearly as mainstream as isotopes, but isobars are important to consider when doing mass spectroscopy.



Extra fact: For nuclei of the same number of neutrons ($A - Z = N = mathrm{constant}$), the term is isotones.






share|improve this answer



















  • 1




    People who don't know as much as A.K. often use "isotope" to mean "you know, like, carbon-14 or something", i.e. all nuclei with a given pair of values for $Z,,N$. In case anyone's curious, the term you want for that is nuclide.
    – J.G.
    yesterday




















up vote
11
down vote













I believe the definition you found may have been a little bit misleading. Here is another definition of isobar I found: each of two or more isotopes of different elements, with the same atomic weight. An isobar is referring to completely different elements. The prefix iso- means only one component must be the same between the different elements, and in the case of an isobar: mass.



I saw in your question the example that an isobar of carbon-13 would look like so $ce{^13C(p:7, n:6)}$; however, this is not proper notation, as an isobar cannot be of the same element. Once the number of protons changes, your element is no longer the same.



Isobars are simply two different elements with the same mass while isotopes are two of the same elements with different masses.






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    up vote
    7
    down vote













    Isobar is of more interest to physics than chemistry.



    As others have explained, your definition is confusing. The one here may be clearer: isobar (Wikipedia).



    In chemistry, the number of protons is most significant since it determines the number of electrons and hence the chemical behaviour. The number of neutrons is relatively unimportant: variants may be useful for labeling and may have slightly different behaviour (most noticeable for $ce{^1H}$ and $ce{^2H}$). So, isotope is used fairly frequently to discuss these variants of the elements. Isobars may have very different chemical behaviour and are unlikely to be an interesting grouping.



    In nuclear physics, the number of neutrons and protons have a similar significance hence the term nuclide (Wikipedia) for atoms with a specific number of protons and neutrons is useful. Isobars have a closer connection with each other than isotopes since isobars can interconvert via beta processes relatively easily. It is rare for an atom to decay into an isotope. For example, $ce{^{14}C}$ decays into $ce{^{14}N}$ rather than $ce{^{13}C}$ .



    Isobars will be relevant in some specific situations in chemistry such mass spectroscopy. So, it is still useful to understand the concept.






    share|improve this answer























    • Thank you for the explanation. Yes, your right, this question is more of a physical topic than chemical topic, but since the first time I heard about it was in chemistry I mixed it up. Thank you for pointing that out. I will look into the right stackexchange next time.
      – Beatrice H.
      yesterday






    • 1




      @BeatriceHurbean I'm sure isobar is discussed more in physics than chemistry, but as Loong's related post suggestion shows isobars are important to consider in mass spectroscopy, so very much a chemistry topic too.
      – A.K.
      yesterday








    • 1




      @A.K. Thanks - a good point.
      – badjohn
      yesterday











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    3 Answers
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    3 Answers
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    active

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    up vote
    33
    down vote



    accepted










    Not quite, an isotope has same number of protons ($ A- N = Z = mathrm{constant}$), but a different number of neutrons ($mathrm N$ varies; e.g. $ce{^3_color{red}{1}H}$ and $ce{^2_color{red}{1}H}$, or $ce{^295_color{red}{92}U}$ and $ce{^238_color{red}{92}U}$ are isotopes).



    An isobar has a fixed number of total nucleons ($Z + N = A = mathrm{constant}$; e.g. $ce{^color{red}{40}_19K}$ and $ce{^color{red}{40}_20Ca}$, or $ce{^color{red}{3}_2He}$ and $ce{^color{red}{3}_1H}$ are isobars). Not nearly as mainstream as isotopes, but isobars are important to consider when doing mass spectroscopy.



    Extra fact: For nuclei of the same number of neutrons ($A - Z = N = mathrm{constant}$), the term is isotones.






    share|improve this answer



















    • 1




      People who don't know as much as A.K. often use "isotope" to mean "you know, like, carbon-14 or something", i.e. all nuclei with a given pair of values for $Z,,N$. In case anyone's curious, the term you want for that is nuclide.
      – J.G.
      yesterday

















    up vote
    33
    down vote



    accepted










    Not quite, an isotope has same number of protons ($ A- N = Z = mathrm{constant}$), but a different number of neutrons ($mathrm N$ varies; e.g. $ce{^3_color{red}{1}H}$ and $ce{^2_color{red}{1}H}$, or $ce{^295_color{red}{92}U}$ and $ce{^238_color{red}{92}U}$ are isotopes).



    An isobar has a fixed number of total nucleons ($Z + N = A = mathrm{constant}$; e.g. $ce{^color{red}{40}_19K}$ and $ce{^color{red}{40}_20Ca}$, or $ce{^color{red}{3}_2He}$ and $ce{^color{red}{3}_1H}$ are isobars). Not nearly as mainstream as isotopes, but isobars are important to consider when doing mass spectroscopy.



    Extra fact: For nuclei of the same number of neutrons ($A - Z = N = mathrm{constant}$), the term is isotones.






    share|improve this answer



















    • 1




      People who don't know as much as A.K. often use "isotope" to mean "you know, like, carbon-14 or something", i.e. all nuclei with a given pair of values for $Z,,N$. In case anyone's curious, the term you want for that is nuclide.
      – J.G.
      yesterday















    up vote
    33
    down vote



    accepted







    up vote
    33
    down vote



    accepted






    Not quite, an isotope has same number of protons ($ A- N = Z = mathrm{constant}$), but a different number of neutrons ($mathrm N$ varies; e.g. $ce{^3_color{red}{1}H}$ and $ce{^2_color{red}{1}H}$, or $ce{^295_color{red}{92}U}$ and $ce{^238_color{red}{92}U}$ are isotopes).



    An isobar has a fixed number of total nucleons ($Z + N = A = mathrm{constant}$; e.g. $ce{^color{red}{40}_19K}$ and $ce{^color{red}{40}_20Ca}$, or $ce{^color{red}{3}_2He}$ and $ce{^color{red}{3}_1H}$ are isobars). Not nearly as mainstream as isotopes, but isobars are important to consider when doing mass spectroscopy.



    Extra fact: For nuclei of the same number of neutrons ($A - Z = N = mathrm{constant}$), the term is isotones.






    share|improve this answer














    Not quite, an isotope has same number of protons ($ A- N = Z = mathrm{constant}$), but a different number of neutrons ($mathrm N$ varies; e.g. $ce{^3_color{red}{1}H}$ and $ce{^2_color{red}{1}H}$, or $ce{^295_color{red}{92}U}$ and $ce{^238_color{red}{92}U}$ are isotopes).



    An isobar has a fixed number of total nucleons ($Z + N = A = mathrm{constant}$; e.g. $ce{^color{red}{40}_19K}$ and $ce{^color{red}{40}_20Ca}$, or $ce{^color{red}{3}_2He}$ and $ce{^color{red}{3}_1H}$ are isobars). Not nearly as mainstream as isotopes, but isobars are important to consider when doing mass spectroscopy.



    Extra fact: For nuclei of the same number of neutrons ($A - Z = N = mathrm{constant}$), the term is isotones.







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    edited 23 hours ago

























    answered 2 days ago









    A.K.

    8,12441861




    8,12441861








    • 1




      People who don't know as much as A.K. often use "isotope" to mean "you know, like, carbon-14 or something", i.e. all nuclei with a given pair of values for $Z,,N$. In case anyone's curious, the term you want for that is nuclide.
      – J.G.
      yesterday
















    • 1




      People who don't know as much as A.K. often use "isotope" to mean "you know, like, carbon-14 or something", i.e. all nuclei with a given pair of values for $Z,,N$. In case anyone's curious, the term you want for that is nuclide.
      – J.G.
      yesterday










    1




    1




    People who don't know as much as A.K. often use "isotope" to mean "you know, like, carbon-14 or something", i.e. all nuclei with a given pair of values for $Z,,N$. In case anyone's curious, the term you want for that is nuclide.
    – J.G.
    yesterday






    People who don't know as much as A.K. often use "isotope" to mean "you know, like, carbon-14 or something", i.e. all nuclei with a given pair of values for $Z,,N$. In case anyone's curious, the term you want for that is nuclide.
    – J.G.
    yesterday












    up vote
    11
    down vote













    I believe the definition you found may have been a little bit misleading. Here is another definition of isobar I found: each of two or more isotopes of different elements, with the same atomic weight. An isobar is referring to completely different elements. The prefix iso- means only one component must be the same between the different elements, and in the case of an isobar: mass.



    I saw in your question the example that an isobar of carbon-13 would look like so $ce{^13C(p:7, n:6)}$; however, this is not proper notation, as an isobar cannot be of the same element. Once the number of protons changes, your element is no longer the same.



    Isobars are simply two different elements with the same mass while isotopes are two of the same elements with different masses.






    share|improve this answer



























      up vote
      11
      down vote













      I believe the definition you found may have been a little bit misleading. Here is another definition of isobar I found: each of two or more isotopes of different elements, with the same atomic weight. An isobar is referring to completely different elements. The prefix iso- means only one component must be the same between the different elements, and in the case of an isobar: mass.



      I saw in your question the example that an isobar of carbon-13 would look like so $ce{^13C(p:7, n:6)}$; however, this is not proper notation, as an isobar cannot be of the same element. Once the number of protons changes, your element is no longer the same.



      Isobars are simply two different elements with the same mass while isotopes are two of the same elements with different masses.






      share|improve this answer

























        up vote
        11
        down vote










        up vote
        11
        down vote









        I believe the definition you found may have been a little bit misleading. Here is another definition of isobar I found: each of two or more isotopes of different elements, with the same atomic weight. An isobar is referring to completely different elements. The prefix iso- means only one component must be the same between the different elements, and in the case of an isobar: mass.



        I saw in your question the example that an isobar of carbon-13 would look like so $ce{^13C(p:7, n:6)}$; however, this is not proper notation, as an isobar cannot be of the same element. Once the number of protons changes, your element is no longer the same.



        Isobars are simply two different elements with the same mass while isotopes are two of the same elements with different masses.






        share|improve this answer














        I believe the definition you found may have been a little bit misleading. Here is another definition of isobar I found: each of two or more isotopes of different elements, with the same atomic weight. An isobar is referring to completely different elements. The prefix iso- means only one component must be the same between the different elements, and in the case of an isobar: mass.



        I saw in your question the example that an isobar of carbon-13 would look like so $ce{^13C(p:7, n:6)}$; however, this is not proper notation, as an isobar cannot be of the same element. Once the number of protons changes, your element is no longer the same.



        Isobars are simply two different elements with the same mass while isotopes are two of the same elements with different masses.







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited yesterday









        Martin - マーチン

        33.1k9104224




        33.1k9104224










        answered 2 days ago









        ELI JONES

        1264




        1264






















            up vote
            7
            down vote













            Isobar is of more interest to physics than chemistry.



            As others have explained, your definition is confusing. The one here may be clearer: isobar (Wikipedia).



            In chemistry, the number of protons is most significant since it determines the number of electrons and hence the chemical behaviour. The number of neutrons is relatively unimportant: variants may be useful for labeling and may have slightly different behaviour (most noticeable for $ce{^1H}$ and $ce{^2H}$). So, isotope is used fairly frequently to discuss these variants of the elements. Isobars may have very different chemical behaviour and are unlikely to be an interesting grouping.



            In nuclear physics, the number of neutrons and protons have a similar significance hence the term nuclide (Wikipedia) for atoms with a specific number of protons and neutrons is useful. Isobars have a closer connection with each other than isotopes since isobars can interconvert via beta processes relatively easily. It is rare for an atom to decay into an isotope. For example, $ce{^{14}C}$ decays into $ce{^{14}N}$ rather than $ce{^{13}C}$ .



            Isobars will be relevant in some specific situations in chemistry such mass spectroscopy. So, it is still useful to understand the concept.






            share|improve this answer























            • Thank you for the explanation. Yes, your right, this question is more of a physical topic than chemical topic, but since the first time I heard about it was in chemistry I mixed it up. Thank you for pointing that out. I will look into the right stackexchange next time.
              – Beatrice H.
              yesterday






            • 1




              @BeatriceHurbean I'm sure isobar is discussed more in physics than chemistry, but as Loong's related post suggestion shows isobars are important to consider in mass spectroscopy, so very much a chemistry topic too.
              – A.K.
              yesterday








            • 1




              @A.K. Thanks - a good point.
              – badjohn
              yesterday















            up vote
            7
            down vote













            Isobar is of more interest to physics than chemistry.



            As others have explained, your definition is confusing. The one here may be clearer: isobar (Wikipedia).



            In chemistry, the number of protons is most significant since it determines the number of electrons and hence the chemical behaviour. The number of neutrons is relatively unimportant: variants may be useful for labeling and may have slightly different behaviour (most noticeable for $ce{^1H}$ and $ce{^2H}$). So, isotope is used fairly frequently to discuss these variants of the elements. Isobars may have very different chemical behaviour and are unlikely to be an interesting grouping.



            In nuclear physics, the number of neutrons and protons have a similar significance hence the term nuclide (Wikipedia) for atoms with a specific number of protons and neutrons is useful. Isobars have a closer connection with each other than isotopes since isobars can interconvert via beta processes relatively easily. It is rare for an atom to decay into an isotope. For example, $ce{^{14}C}$ decays into $ce{^{14}N}$ rather than $ce{^{13}C}$ .



            Isobars will be relevant in some specific situations in chemistry such mass spectroscopy. So, it is still useful to understand the concept.






            share|improve this answer























            • Thank you for the explanation. Yes, your right, this question is more of a physical topic than chemical topic, but since the first time I heard about it was in chemistry I mixed it up. Thank you for pointing that out. I will look into the right stackexchange next time.
              – Beatrice H.
              yesterday






            • 1




              @BeatriceHurbean I'm sure isobar is discussed more in physics than chemistry, but as Loong's related post suggestion shows isobars are important to consider in mass spectroscopy, so very much a chemistry topic too.
              – A.K.
              yesterday








            • 1




              @A.K. Thanks - a good point.
              – badjohn
              yesterday













            up vote
            7
            down vote










            up vote
            7
            down vote









            Isobar is of more interest to physics than chemistry.



            As others have explained, your definition is confusing. The one here may be clearer: isobar (Wikipedia).



            In chemistry, the number of protons is most significant since it determines the number of electrons and hence the chemical behaviour. The number of neutrons is relatively unimportant: variants may be useful for labeling and may have slightly different behaviour (most noticeable for $ce{^1H}$ and $ce{^2H}$). So, isotope is used fairly frequently to discuss these variants of the elements. Isobars may have very different chemical behaviour and are unlikely to be an interesting grouping.



            In nuclear physics, the number of neutrons and protons have a similar significance hence the term nuclide (Wikipedia) for atoms with a specific number of protons and neutrons is useful. Isobars have a closer connection with each other than isotopes since isobars can interconvert via beta processes relatively easily. It is rare for an atom to decay into an isotope. For example, $ce{^{14}C}$ decays into $ce{^{14}N}$ rather than $ce{^{13}C}$ .



            Isobars will be relevant in some specific situations in chemistry such mass spectroscopy. So, it is still useful to understand the concept.






            share|improve this answer














            Isobar is of more interest to physics than chemistry.



            As others have explained, your definition is confusing. The one here may be clearer: isobar (Wikipedia).



            In chemistry, the number of protons is most significant since it determines the number of electrons and hence the chemical behaviour. The number of neutrons is relatively unimportant: variants may be useful for labeling and may have slightly different behaviour (most noticeable for $ce{^1H}$ and $ce{^2H}$). So, isotope is used fairly frequently to discuss these variants of the elements. Isobars may have very different chemical behaviour and are unlikely to be an interesting grouping.



            In nuclear physics, the number of neutrons and protons have a similar significance hence the term nuclide (Wikipedia) for atoms with a specific number of protons and neutrons is useful. Isobars have a closer connection with each other than isotopes since isobars can interconvert via beta processes relatively easily. It is rare for an atom to decay into an isotope. For example, $ce{^{14}C}$ decays into $ce{^{14}N}$ rather than $ce{^{13}C}$ .



            Isobars will be relevant in some specific situations in chemistry such mass spectroscopy. So, it is still useful to understand the concept.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited yesterday

























            answered yesterday









            badjohn

            451111




            451111












            • Thank you for the explanation. Yes, your right, this question is more of a physical topic than chemical topic, but since the first time I heard about it was in chemistry I mixed it up. Thank you for pointing that out. I will look into the right stackexchange next time.
              – Beatrice H.
              yesterday






            • 1




              @BeatriceHurbean I'm sure isobar is discussed more in physics than chemistry, but as Loong's related post suggestion shows isobars are important to consider in mass spectroscopy, so very much a chemistry topic too.
              – A.K.
              yesterday








            • 1




              @A.K. Thanks - a good point.
              – badjohn
              yesterday


















            • Thank you for the explanation. Yes, your right, this question is more of a physical topic than chemical topic, but since the first time I heard about it was in chemistry I mixed it up. Thank you for pointing that out. I will look into the right stackexchange next time.
              – Beatrice H.
              yesterday






            • 1




              @BeatriceHurbean I'm sure isobar is discussed more in physics than chemistry, but as Loong's related post suggestion shows isobars are important to consider in mass spectroscopy, so very much a chemistry topic too.
              – A.K.
              yesterday








            • 1




              @A.K. Thanks - a good point.
              – badjohn
              yesterday
















            Thank you for the explanation. Yes, your right, this question is more of a physical topic than chemical topic, but since the first time I heard about it was in chemistry I mixed it up. Thank you for pointing that out. I will look into the right stackexchange next time.
            – Beatrice H.
            yesterday




            Thank you for the explanation. Yes, your right, this question is more of a physical topic than chemical topic, but since the first time I heard about it was in chemistry I mixed it up. Thank you for pointing that out. I will look into the right stackexchange next time.
            – Beatrice H.
            yesterday




            1




            1




            @BeatriceHurbean I'm sure isobar is discussed more in physics than chemistry, but as Loong's related post suggestion shows isobars are important to consider in mass spectroscopy, so very much a chemistry topic too.
            – A.K.
            yesterday






            @BeatriceHurbean I'm sure isobar is discussed more in physics than chemistry, but as Loong's related post suggestion shows isobars are important to consider in mass spectroscopy, so very much a chemistry topic too.
            – A.K.
            yesterday






            1




            1




            @A.K. Thanks - a good point.
            – badjohn
            yesterday




            @A.K. Thanks - a good point.
            – badjohn
            yesterday










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