Isotopes: The Fat Twins of Chemical Elements
Keywords:
isotopes, neutrons, nuclear medicine, human dietAbstract
Not all atoms of an element are equal, some are heavier than others. This is because they vary in the number of neutrons they contain. Thus, atoms of the same element with different molecular masses, due to variations in the number of neutrons they contain, are known as isotopes. This “fat” relatives have unique physical properties, making them an essential tool in multiple scientific areas: from determining the origins of the moon, mapping the climatic history of Earth or the human diet, to the study of forensic sciences. In this article we show how studying isotopes yields interesting and novel results to solve all sorts of different scientific questions.
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Revista Digital Universitaria es editada por la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México se distribuye bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional. Basada en una obra en http://revista.unam.mx/.