Can you give me an example of the calculation of the relative atomic mass of an element
Chemistry
ScanSolve AI Answer
Answer
Yes, I can give you an example of calculating the relative atomic mass (Ar) of an element. This calculation involves considering the different isotopes of an element and their natural abundances.
Step-by-step solution
3 stepsLet's calculate the relative atomic mass of Chlorine (Cl).
Chlorine has two main naturally occurring isotopes:
- Chlorine-35 (³⁵Cl) with an isotopic mass of approximately 34.969 amu and a natural abundance of 75.77%.
- Chlorine-37 (³⁷Cl) with an isotopic mass of approximately 36.966 amu and a natural abundance of 24.23%.
The formula for calculating relative atomic mass (Ar) is:
Ar = Σ [ (Isotopic mass of isotope n) × (Fractional abundance of isotope n) ]
Convert percentages to fractional abundances.
- Fractional abundance of Chlorine-35 = 75.77% / 100 = 0.7577
- Fractional abundance of Chlorine-37 = 24.23% / 100 = 0.2423
Calculate the contribution of each isotope.
- Contribution from Chlorine-35 = 34.969 × 0.7577 = 26.496
- Contribution from Chlorine-37 = 36.966 × 0.2423 = 8.957
Sum the contributions to find the relative atomic mass.
- Ar (Chlorine) = 26.496 + 8.957 = 35.453
Therefore, the relative atomic mass of Chlorine is approximately 35.453. This value is what you typically see on the periodic table.
Was this helpful?
Still stuck on this one?
Ask a follow-up, and the answer starts from this question.
Got a different question?Ask your own question
More Chemistry Questions
QCould you give me the brief steps in determining the relative atomic mass of a compound and deeply…QCalculate the relative atomic mass of element X, given the isotopes' mass numbers and abundances.QGiven an element with an average atomic mass of 35.5 and isotopes of mass numbers 35 and 37…QHow to determine the mass number of an elementQCalculate the relative atomic mass of Neon given the isotopic masses and abundances.