The isotope 40K, also known as potassium-40, has the following characteristics:
- Atomic Number: The atomic number of potassium (K) is 19. This means it has 19 protons.
- Mass Number: The mass number of 40K is 40, which represents the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.
- Neutrons: To find the number of neutrons, we can subtract the atomic number from the mass number. So, 40 (mass number) – 19 (atomic number) = 21 neutrons.
- Electrons: In a neutral atom, the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons. Therefore, 40K also has 19 electrons.
In summary, 40K contains:
- Protons: 19
- Neutrons: 21
- Electrons: 19