Question

Neon has three isotopes: neon-20 (90.5%), neon-21 (0.2%), and neon-22 (9.3%). How would you find the average atomic mass of neon?

Answer 1

The average atomic mass of neon can be calculated by multiplying each isotope's mass by its relative abundance and summing these products.

Step-by-step explanation:

The average atomic mass of an element with multiple isotopes, such as neon, can be calculated by multiplying the mass of each isotope by its relative natural abundance (expressed as a decimal), and then summing these products.

For example, to calculate the average atomic mass of neon, which has three isotopes with different masses and natural abundances:

• First, multiply the mass of each isotope by its corresponding natural abundance.
• Second, sum all the products obtained from the first step to get the weighted average.

Using the provided data, the calculation would be:

(0.905 × 19.99 amu) + (0.002 × 20.99 amu) + (0.093 × 21.99 amu) = average atomic mass of neon