Question

Explain the difference between percent abundance and relative abundance.

The percent abundance of each isotope tells you how many of each kind of isotope exist one very 100 particles. What does relative abundance tell you?

Answer 1

Percent abundance refers to the proportion of each isotope in a sample, while relative abundance describes the ratio of a specific isotope to the total abundance of all isotopes of an element.

Step-by-step explanation:

Percent abundance and relative abundance are both used to describe the distribution of isotopes of an element. However, there is a difference in what each term specifically refers to.

Percent abundance is the percentage or proportion of each isotope in a sample or element. It tells you how many of each kind of isotope exist for every 100 particles. For example, if an element has two isotopes and the percent abundances are 25% and 75%, it means that for every 100 particles, 25 are the first isotope and 75 are the second isotope.

Relative abundance is the ratio of the abundance of a specific isotope to the total abundance of all isotopes of the element. It describes the proportion of a particular isotope within the mixture of isotopes. It is usually expressed as a decimal or a fraction. For example, if an element has two isotopes with relative abundances of 0.4 and 0.6, it means that 40% of the isotopes are the first isotope and 60% are the second isotope.

Answer 2

The percent abundance of each isotope tells you how many of each kind of isotope exist one very 100 particles. Relative abundance is the percent composition of an organism of a particular kind relative to the total number of organisms in the area. Hope this helps.