Which of the following is the correct nuclear symbol for the isotope of beryllium with mass number a = 10?

• A. ^{4}_{10}Be
• B. ^{10}_{4}Be
• C. ^{10}_{2}Be
• D. ^{10}_{5}Be

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Recall that the nuclear symbol for an isotope is written as \(^{A}_{Z}X\), where \(A\) is the mass number (total number of protons and neutrons), \(Z\) is the atomic number (number of protons), and \(X\) is the chemical symbol of the element.
2. Identify the atomic number (\(Z\)) of beryllium (Be) from the periodic table. Beryllium has an atomic number of 4, meaning it has 4 protons.
3. Use the given mass number \(A = 10\) for the isotope, which means the total number of protons and neutrons is 10.
4. Construct the nuclear symbol by placing the mass number \(A = 10\) as the superscript and the atomic number \(Z = 4\) as the subscript to the left of the chemical symbol Be, resulting in \(^{10}_{4}Be\).
5. Verify that the other options are incorrect because they either have the wrong atomic number or mass number placement, such as \(^{4}_{10}Be\) (mass and atomic numbers swapped), \(^{10}_{2}Be\) (wrong atomic number), or \(^{10}_{5}Be\) (wrong atomic number).