carbon-12
Sign in to saveCarbon-12 (12C) is the most abundant of the two stable isotopes of carbon (carbon-13 being the other), amounting to 98.93% of element carbon on Earth; its abundance is due to the triple-alpha process by which it is created in stars. Carbon-12 is of particular importance in its use as the standard from which atomic masses of all nuclides are measured, thus, its atomic mass is exactly 12 daltons by definition. Carbon-12 is composed of 6 protons, 6 neutrons, and 6 electrons.
Key facts
- Isotope.symbol
- C
- Isotope.image
- Carbon-12.svg
- Isotope.mass_number
- 12
- Isotope.mass
- 12
- Isotope.num_neutrons
- 6
- Isotope.num_protons
- 6
- Isotope.abundance
- 98.93%
- Isotope.parent
- Nitrogen-12
- Isotope.parent_symbol
- N
- Isotope.parent_mass
- 12
- Isotope.parent2
- Boron-12
- Isotope.parent2_symbol
- B
- Isotope.parent2_mass
- 12
- Isotope.spin
- 0
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
5 sectionsContents
- History
- Hoyle state
- See also
- References
- External links
Carbon-12 (12C) is the most abundant of the two stable isotopes of carbon (carbon-13 being the other), amounting to 98.93% of element carbon on Earth; its abundance is due to the triple-alpha process by which it is created in stars. Carbon-12 is of particular importance in its use as the standard from which atomic masses of all nuclides are measured, thus, its atomic mass is exactly 12 daltons by definition. Carbon-12 is composed of 6 protons, 6 neutrons, and 6 electrons.
See carbon-13 for means of separating the two isotopes, thereby enriching both.