isotope
noun
iso·tope
ˈī-sə-ˌtōp 
1
: any of two or more species of atoms of a chemical element with the same atomic number and nearly identical chemical behavior but with differing atomic mass or mass number and different physical properties
2
: nuclide
Examples of isotope in a Sentence
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What the Dutch scientists did was to look at the ratios of ruthenium and tungsten isotopes found in oceanic basalts and picrites from Hawaii, Baffin Island, Galápagos, and La Réunion islands.
—
David Szondy
june 07, New Atlas, 7 June 2025
An international team of researchers reached this conclusion after analyzing the ratio of different variants, called isotopes, of the mineral zinc in 18-million-year-old megalodon teeth.
—Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 May 2025
McCormack said that the new method of determining tooth zinc isotope ratios has once proven to be a valuable instrument for paleoecological reconstructions.
—Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 May 2025
The particles coming from the sun collide with gases in Earth’s atmosphere, forming new isotopes like the radioactive beryllium-10 and carbon-14 (or radiocarbon).
—David Bressan, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for isotope
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David Szondy
june 07, New Atlas, 7 June 2025
An international team of researchers reached this conclusion after analyzing the ratio of different variants, called isotopes, of the mineral zinc in 18-million-year-old megalodon teeth.
—Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 May 2025
McCormack said that the new method of determining tooth zinc isotope ratios has once proven to be a valuable instrument for paleoecological reconstructions.
—Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 May 2025
The particles coming from the sun collide with gases in Earth’s atmosphere, forming new isotopes like the radioactive beryllium-10 and carbon-14 (or radiocarbon).
—David Bressan, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for isotope
Cite this Entry
“Isotope.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/isotope. Accessed 11 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
isotope
noun
iso·tope
ˈī-sə-ˌtōp
: any of the forms of an element that differ in the number of neutrons in an atom
Medical Definition
isotope
noun
iso·tope
ˈī-sə-ˌtōp
1
: any of two or more species of atoms of a chemical element with the same atomic number and position in the periodic table and nearly identical chemical behavior but with differing atomic mass or mass number and different physical properties
2
: nuclide
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