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5 votes
An unknown element has two isotopes. The first isotope has a mass of 68.926 amu and an abundance of 60.108%. The second isotope has a mass of 70,925 amu and an abundance

of 39.892%. Calculate the average atomic mass AND identify the element.

User Tapper
by
6.2k points

2 Answers

5 votes

M
r
(
G
a
)
=
69.7231
to 4 decimal places
.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the average atomic mass (
A
r
) of an element, given the percentage rarities of its isotopes, simply multiply each isotope's
A
r
by its percentage that is expressed as a decimal and total the results. We can carry this out in a single line of working:
M
r
(
Ga
)
=
(
68.9256

0.60108
)
+
(
70.9247

0.39892
)

M
r
(
Ga
)
=
69.7231
to 4 decimal places

Similarly, you could input the percentages normally and then divide by
100
:
M
r
(
Ga
)
=
(
68.9256

60.108
)
+
(
70.9247

39.892
)
100

M
r
(
Ga
)
=
69.7231
to 4 decimal places

Notice that the answers are the same. Also observe that the answer is closer to 69 than it is to 71, which makes sense since gallium-69 makes up a greater proportion of gallium in the universe (
~
60
%
) than gallium-71 does (
~
30
%
)
User Manigandan
by
6.0k points
4 votes

Answer:

69.72344108

Gallium

Step-by-step explanation:

User Jonas Lundgren
by
5.8k points