Mass number number of protons in a nucleus, and thus uniquely identifies an element. Hence, the difference between the mass number and the atomic number gives the number of neutrons ("N") in a given nucleus: . The mass number is written either after the element name or as a superscript to the left of an element's symbol. For example, the most common isotope of carbon is carbon-12, or , which has 6 protons and 6 neutrons. The full isotope symbol would also have the atomic number ("Z") as a subscript to the left of the element symbol directly below the mass number:
Isotopes of seaborgium Isotopes of seaborgium Seaborgium <nowiki>(</nowiki>Sg) is a synthetic element, and thus a standard atomic weight cannot be given. Like all synthetic elements, it has no stable isotopes. The first isotope to be synthesized was Sg in 1974. There are 12 known radioisotopes from Sg to Sg and 2 known isomers (Sg and Sg). The longest-lived isotope is Sg with a half-life of 3.1 minutes. "This section deals with the synthesis of nuclei of seaborgium by so-called "cold" fusion reactions. These are processes that create compound nuclei at low excitation energy (~10–20 MeV, hence "cold"), leading to a higher probability of