Q&A for How to Find Average Atomic Mass

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How do you find weighted average mass if you don't have one of the amu?

Meredith Juncker, PhD
Scientific Researcher
Meredith Juncker is a scientific researcher based in Brookline, Massachusetts. Currently working as a Senior Patent Technology Specialist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Meredith is able to leverage her expertise in biochemistry and molecular biology. She received a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, focusing on proteins and neurodegenerative diseases. She went on to work as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Meredith Juncker, PhD

Scientific Researcher

Expert Answer

An atomic mass unit is the same thing as grams per mole (1 amu = 1 g/mol). It is also the same thing as a dalton (1 amu = 1 Da). so if you don't know the amu for one of your elements, you can search for this particular isotope online to find the amu and natural abundance specific to that particular isotope.

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Question

What's the atomic weight of platinum?

Meredith Juncker, PhD
Scientific Researcher
Meredith Juncker is a scientific researcher based in Brookline, Massachusetts. Currently working as a Senior Patent Technology Specialist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Meredith is able to leverage her expertise in biochemistry and molecular biology. She received a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, focusing on proteins and neurodegenerative diseases. She went on to work as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Meredith Juncker, PhD

Scientific Researcher

Expert Answer

The atomic weight of platinum is 195.078 amu. Check out "How to Calculate Atomic Mass" for more information.

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Question

Why do we need to know average atomic mass?

Meredith Juncker, PhD
Scientific Researcher
Meredith Juncker is a scientific researcher based in Brookline, Massachusetts. Currently working as a Senior Patent Technology Specialist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Meredith is able to leverage her expertise in biochemistry and molecular biology. She received a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, focusing on proteins and neurodegenerative diseases. She went on to work as a Postdoctoral Associate at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Meredith Juncker, PhD

Scientific Researcher

Expert Answer

It's important to know average atomic mass because different isotopes of an element exist at different abundances on Earth, so different isotopes contribute to the average atomic mass at different proportions.

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How do I find the atomic weight?

Community Answer

The atomic weight is just another term for the average atomic mass.

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Can you give another example of average atomic mass?

Community Answer

Neon has three natural isotopes: 90.48% of Neon is Ne-20 with a mass of roughly 19.992 amu; 9.25% is Ne-22 with a mass of 21.991 amu; and 0.27% is Ne-21 with a mass of 20.993 amu. The average atomic mass of Neon is (19.992)(0.9048) + (21.991)(0.0925) + (20.993)(0.0027) = about 20.180 amu.

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As the atomic number increases within a group of elements, the atomic radius usually does what?

Donagan

Top Answerer

We can assume the atomic radius increases with the atomic number.

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How can I find average mass of bromine?

Donagan

Top Answerer

Go to socratic.org/chemistry, and search "atomic mass of bromine."

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