Question

What is the difference between carbon-13 and carbon-14?

Answer 1

The difference is how many neutrons each has. Carbon-13 has 7 neutrons and C-14 has 8 neutrons.

Explanation:

Carbon-13 atoms have a mass of 13 amu. Carbon-14 atoms have a mass of 14 amu (atomic mass units).

All carbon atoms have 6 protons, different isotopes of carbon can have differing numbers of neutrons. The mass of the atom comes almost completely from the protons and the neutrons. Electrons have a mass which is so tiny that you can ignore it for questions like this one.

C-12 = 6 protons + 6 neutrons = 12 amu
C-13 = 6 protons + 7 neutrons = 13 amu
C-14 = 6 protons + 8 neutrons = 14 amu

Here is a video which discusses C-12 and C-14.

Hope this helps!