Question

6. There are three isotopes of silicon. They have mass numbers of 28, 29 and 30. The average atomic mass of silicon is 28.086amu. What does this say about the relative abundances of the three isotopes?

Answer 1

That means that the isotope that has a mass number of 28 is probably the most abundant. This is because your average atomic mass is 28.086 amu, which is closest to 28.

Formula used to calculate average atomic mass follows:

average atomic mass=(atomic mass of an isotope)*(fractional abundance)

we are given=

Three isotopes of Silicon, which are Si-28, Si-29 and Si-30.

Average atomic mass of silicon = 28.086 amu

As, the average atomic mass of silicon is closer to the mass of Si-28 isotope. This means that the relative abundance of this isotope is the highest as compared to the other two isotopes.

Percentage abundance of Si-28 isotope = 92.2%

Percentage abundance of Si-29 isotope = 4.7 %

Percentage abundance of Si-30 isotope = 3.1%

Hence, the abundance of Si-28 isotope is the highest as compared to the other isotopes.