How many neutrons and protons does ^14C contain?

To determine the number of neutrons and protons in the carbon-14 isotope, it's important to understand the notation used in nuclear chemistry. The symbol ^14C indicates that this isotope of carbon has a mass number of 14. The mass number is the total count of protons and neutrons in an atom's nucleus.

Carbon (C) has an atomic number of 6, which tells us that it has 6 protons. To find the number of neutrons, we can use the following relationship:

Number of neutrons = Mass number - Number of protons

For carbon-14, we perform the calculation as follows:

Number of neutrons = 14 (mass number) - 6 (number of protons) = 8 neutrons.

This gives us a clear count of 8 neutrons and 6 protons for the carbon-14 isotope, confirming that option B is indeed the correct answer. Understanding this process helps clarify how to interpret atomic structure and isotopes in future questions.