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?

Respuesta :

Answer: The abundance of Si-28 isotope is the highest as compared to the other isotopes.

Explanation:

Average atomic mass is defined as the sum of masses of each isotope each multiplied by their natural fractional abundance.

Formula used to calculate average atomic mass follows:

[tex]\text{Average atomic mass }=\sum_{i=1}^n\text{(Atomic mass of an isotopes)}_i\times \text{(Fractional abundance})_i[/tex]

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.

Taking into account hte definition of isotope, the relative abundance of Si-28 is the highest compared to the other two isotopes.

The atomic mass (A) is obtained by adding the number of protons and neutrons in a given nucleus.

The same chemical element can be made up of different atoms, that is, their atomic numbers (number of protons) are the same, but the number of neutrons is different. These atoms are called isotopes of the element.

That is, isotopes are atoms whose atomic nuclei have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.

On the other hand, the average atomic mass of an element is like the weighted average of the masses of the different isotopes of each element, taking into account the relative abundance of each of them.

In this case, you know that three isotopes of Silicon are Si-28, Si-29 and Si-30 and the average atomic mass of silicon is 28.086 amu.

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

In summary, the relative abundance of Si-28 is the highest compared to the other two isotopes.

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