structural:scholar_edition, information:filtering
Notation

An isotope and/or nuclide is specified by the name of the particular element (this indicates the atomic number) followed by a hyphen and the mass number (e.g. helium-3, helium-4, carbon-12, carbon-14, uranium-235 and uranium-239). This method of labeling isotopes is referred to as isotope notation, which provides a clear and standardized way to distinguish between different isotopes of the same element. When a chemical symbol is used, e.g. "C" for carbon, standard notation (now known as "AZE notation" because A is the mass number, Z the atomic number, and E for element) is to indicate the mass number (number of nucleons) with a superscript at the upper left of the chemical symbol and to indicate the atomic number with a subscript at the lower left (e.g. He, He, C, C, U, and U). Because the atomic number is given by the element symbol, it is common to state only the mass number in the superscript and leave out the atomic number subscript (e.g. He, He, C, C, U, and U). The letter m (for metastable) is sometimes appended after the mass number to indicate a nuclear isomer, a metastable or energetically excited nuclear state (as opposed to the lowest-energy ground state), for example Ta (tantalum-180m).

The common pronunciation of the AZE notation is different from how it is written: He is commonly pronounced as helium-four instead of four-two-helium, and U as uranium two-thirty-five (American English) or uranium-two-three-five (British) instead of 235-92-uranium.