Question

A newly found element with the symbol J has two naturally occurring isotopes. Isotope one has an atomic mass of 139.905 amu and an abundance of 37.25%. Isotope two has an atomic mass of 141.709 amu and an abundance of 62.75%. Calculate the mass of the element.

Answer 1

The mass of the element is 141.03701 amu

Step-by-step explanation:

The catch here is that it notes a " newly found element. " Otherwise you could just refer to the average atomic mass of the element in the periodic table, and receive your solution in a much faster way.

The first isotope has an atomic mass of 139.905 amu, and a respective percent abundance of 37.25%. The second isotope has an atomic mass of 141.709 amu, and the remaining percent abundance, 100% - 37.25% = 62.75% ( given ). We can calculate the mass of the unknown element by associating each percentage with the mass of their respective isotope, over 100%.

Mass = ( ( 139.905 amu )( 37.25% ) + ( 141.709 amu )( 62.75% ) )/ 100,

Mass = ( ( 5211.46125 ) + ( 8892.23975 ) ) / 100,

Mass = ( 14103.701 ) / 100 = 141.03701 amu