A
table of nuclides or
chart of nuclides is a two-dimensional
graph in which one axis represents the
number of neutrons and the other represents the
number of protons in an
atomic nucleus. Each point plotted on the graph thus represents the
nuclide of a real or hypothetical
chemical element. This system of ordering nuclides can offer a greater insight into the characteristics of isotopes than the better-known
periodic table, which shows only elements instead of each of their isotopes.