British Sign Language Glossaries of Curriculum Terms

BSL Chemistry Glossary - isotope - Definition

An Isotope is an element and when we look at the Periodic Table we see all the atoms that make up these elements. These elements all have their own Mass Number but some have two Mass Numbers which is why we have this sign to show there are two types of this particular element. The Atomic Number for each of these Isotopes is the same but the Mass Number is different.

For example Silicon has the one Atomic Number but 5 Mass Numbers (the BSL sign changes to show one element and 5 isotopes). This is a general sign for 'Isotope' (see video 1:03) but this can be modified to reflect the number of Isotopes depending on how many mass numbers there are.