Question

consider chlorine, which occurs as a mixture of two isotopes: chlorine-35, with a natural abundance of 75.8% and an exact mass of 34.97 amu and chlorine-37, with a natural abundance of 24.2% and an exact mass of 36.97 amu. what is the average atomic mass of chlorine? report to two decimal places.

Answer 1

The average atomic mass of chlorine is 35.45 amu.

Step-by-step explanation:

The average atomic mass of chlorine can be calculated by multiplying the atomic mass of each isotope by its abundance, and then adding the results together. In this case, chlorine-35 has an abundance of 75.8% and an atomic mass of 34.97 amu, while chlorine-37 has an abundance of 24.2% and an atomic mass of 36.97 amu.

So the calculation is as follows:

(0.758 * 34.97) + (0.242 * 36.97) = 35.45 amu

Therefore, the average atomic mass of chlorine is 35.45 amu.