Isotopes and Calculating Atomic Mass

Front

What do isotopes of an element have in common?

Back

Isotopes of an element have the same atomic number and electrons, but different mass numbers due to varying numbers of neutrons.

Front

How do carbon-12 and carbon-14 differ?

Back

Carbon-12 and carbon-14 differ in the number of neutrons: carbon-12 has 6 neutrons, while carbon-14 has 8 neutrons.

Front

What is needed to calculate average atomic mass?

Back

To calculate average atomic mass, you need the atomic mass and percent abundance of each isotope.

Front

When is an atom electrically neutral?

Back

An atom is electrically neutral when the number of protons equals the number of electrons.

Front

Which isotope of lithium has 4 neutrons?

Back

Lithium-7 (Li-7) has 4 neutrons.

Front

Define isotopes.

Back

Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.

Front

What is atomic mass?

Back

Atomic mass is the weighted average mass of an element's isotopes, measured in atomic mass units (amu).

Front

What is the atomic number?

Back

The atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom, which determines the element's identity.

Front

How do you find the average atomic mass of an element?

Back

Multiply the atomic mass of each isotope by its percent abundance (as a decimal), then sum these values.

Front

What is percent abundance?

Back

Percent abundance is the relative amount of each isotope of an element in a naturally occurring sample, expressed as a percentage.