please answer as short and simple as you possibly can
2006-12-14 13:39:33 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
The term "average mass" has to do with the relative abundance of all of the isotopes of an element, which is multiplied against their individual masses. So, for example, assume there exists three isotopes of an element - "Grog" let's say. The atomic masses of the three isotopes of Grog are 10, 20 and 30 Average Mass Units (AMU). So, what if we say further that 1/2 of the isotopes of element X are the 10 AMU type, and the two heavier isotopes each account for 25% of the total number of atoms (particles) of this hypothetical element. As a result 10 * 0.5 = 5 AMU and 20 * 0.25= 5 AMU and 30 * 0.25 = 7.5 AMU. The average atomic mass that results is 17.5 AMU. Hope that helps! Good luck!
2006-12-14 14:18:16 · answer #1 · answered by KevinMack 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The atomic mass of an actual atom can never be a fraction, since an atom can never have half of a proton or neutron, and electrons are too small to count. The reason the average mass is a fraction is because of the isotopes and how common they are. For example, Carbon can have 11, 12, 13, or 14 (most common, others are unstable and very rare) neutrons, so the mass of those atoms aould be 23, 24, 25, and 26. Carbon-12 is the most common of the isotopes, and its commonality is taken into account when calculating the average masses, so that is why the average atomic mass is a fraction. Note, however, that the atomic number is the number of protons an atom has, so its mass would be at least doubled (with the exception of hydrogen)
2016-05-24 07:12:13 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The atomic mass number is calculated by adding together the number of protons and the number of neutrons. The average atomic mass number is determined by taking a weighted average of the mass of each isotope, weighted according to the abundance of the isotope
2006-12-14 13:44:11 · answer #3 · answered by goldspy101 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
take the relative abundance of each isotope and calculate a wieghted average.
2006-12-14 13:42:27 · answer #4 · answered by Jake S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
mass spectroscopy, shoot a charged atom into a magnetic field, the radius of its curved path leads you to its mass
2006-12-14 13:42:23 · answer #5 · answered by kemchan2 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋