How Many Neutrons Does Aluminum Have?
The number of neutrons in an element is obtained from the difference between the number of atomic masses and the number of atoms.
That is, neutron number (n) = atomic mass number (A) – atomic number (Z)
We know that the atomic number of aluminum is 13 and the atomic mass number is about 27(26.982). Neutron = 27 – 13 = 14. Therefore, an aluminum atom has fourteen neutrons.
Mass number (A) | Atomic number (Z) | Neutron number = A – Z |
26.982 | 13 | 14 |
Based on the atomic number, mass number, and neutron number of the element, three things can be considered. These are isotope, isobar, and isotone. The number of neutrons depends on the isotope of the atom.
List of neutron numbers by an isotope of aluminum
Atoms that have the same number of protons but different mass numbers are called isotopes of each other.
Isotope | Mass number (A) | Atomic number (Z) | Neutron number = A – Z |
22Al | 22.01954 | 13 | 9 |
23Al | 23.0072444 | 13 | 10 |
24Al | 23.99994754 | 13 | 11 |
25Al | 24.99042831 | 13 | 12 |
26Al | 25.98689186 | 13 | 13 |
27Al | 26.98153841 | 13 | 14 |
28Al | 27.98191009 | 13 | 15 |
29Al | 28.9804532 | 13 | 16 |
30Al | 29.982968 | 13 | 17 |
31Al | 30.9839498 | 13 | 18 |
32Al | 31.988084 | 13 | 19 |
33Al | 32.990878 | 13 | 20 |
34Al | 33.996779 | 13 | 21 |
35Al | 34.999760 | 13 | 22 |
36Al | 36.00639 | 13 | 23 |
37Al | 37.01053 | 13 | 24 |
38Al | 38.0174 | 13 | 25 |
39Al | 39.02217 | 13 | 26 |
40Al | 40.02962 | 13 | 27 |
41Al | 41.03588 | 13 | 28 |
42Al | 42.04305 | 13 | 29 |
43Al | 43.05048 | 13 | 30 |
The English chemist Frederick Sodi first came up with the idea of isotopes in 1912, and the scientist Aston in 1919 identified two different mass neon atoms (20Ne, 22Ne).
He named the atoms with different masses of the same element as isotopes of that element. The number of protons in an isotope atom does not change but the number of neutrons does.
The aluminum atom has more than twenty-two isotopes. Among the isotopes, 27Al is stable and formed naturally. The remaining isotopes of aluminum are highly unstable and their half-lives are very short.
Of the 22 radioisotopes of aluminum, the longest-lived radioisotope is 26Al with a half-life of 7.2×105 years and occurs naturally. All others are under a minute, most under a second. The mass of stable 27Al is about 27 (26.981538).