[Chebi-ontology] "Elements that have no isotopes"

[Colin B. <Bat...@rs...>]

Alan Ruttenberg writes: 
> I've seen this usage "Elements that have no isotopes"
> http://digipac.ca/chemical/molemass/isotope1.ht
> <http://digipac.ca/chemical/molemass/isotope1.htm>m
>
> Now what they mean is that there aren't isotopes that are long moved enough or abundant enough to matter for some purpose. But for the sake of  argument suppose sodium-23 has no isotopes. Would there be a class sodium as distinct from sodium-23? Regardless of the answer, how would having no isotopes be expressed?

Sorry to weigh in here and prolong the discussion but as a chemist that web page just sounds like gibberish. I would prefer to say that phosphorus, say, has only one naturally-occurring isotope, number 31.

To me an element that has no known isotopes would be something like bibiquadium, where we have no idea how to assemble such a nucleus in the first place.

I don't think isotopy expressed as a relation belongs in ChEBI per se. It might belong in some application ontology. I don't think ChEBI should be polluted with that sort of very surfacy application-focussed relation.

Best wishes,
Colin.

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