Chemical element hydrogen and deuterium). Thus, all carbon isotopes have nearly identical chemical properties because they all have six protons and six electrons, even though carbon atoms may, for example, have 6 or 8 neutrons. That is why the atomic number, rather than mass number or atomic weight, is considered the identifying characteristic of a chemical element. The symbol for atomic number is "Z". Isotopes are atoms of the same element (that is, with the same number of protons in their atomic nucleus), but having "different" numbers of neutrons. Thus, for example, there are three main isotopes of carbon. All carbon atoms
Chemical substance regard. A chemical substance may well be defined as "any material with a definite chemical composition" in an introductory general chemistry textbook. According to this definition a chemical substance can either be a pure chemical element or a pure chemical compound. But, there are exceptions to this definition; a pure substance can also be defined as a form of matter that has both definite composition and distinct properties. The chemical substance index published by CAS also includes several alloys of uncertain composition. Non-stoichiometric compounds are a special case (in inorganic chemistry) that violates the law of constant composition, and for