What is the difference between an isotopic and isoelectronic species?
Isotopes are chemical species that have the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons as each other in their nuclei. For example, Deuterium (H2) and Tritium (H3) are isotopes of Hydrogen.Chemical species can be said to be isoelectronic when they have the same number of electrons, for example O2- and F- are isoelectronic ions as they both have 10 electrons. You can also have isoelectronic molecules, for example both N2 and CO2 have 14 electrons.
