Hour -Name

Isotopes
'Materials:

Pennies in a Container

Balance

Procedure:
1 . Determine the mass of 114 ofa sheet ofpaper. Place one ofthe pennies on the paper and deternine the

m s of the penny and the paper. Subtract to deternine the mass of the penny.

2. Record the date on the penny.

3. Repeat procedure 1 - 2 for each of the pennies in the container. Return each penny to the container
when you finish weighing it. Be carefbl not to contaminate your sample with pennies fiom another group's
container.
Container #
Data:
.
i
1
Mass of
i
Mass of
j
Mass of
!
I
I
/
_
Penny
Penny + Paper (a) j
Paper (g) I Penny (g) j j
Year
.

I
I

Hour -Name
Calculations and Conclusions:
1. Define Isotopes
2. Pretend that the coins are atoms of the element Pennium ( Pe ). Atoms of this element with masses
which are more than 0.2 g different are different isotopes. Use the empty column in the data table to
mark the isotopes with different letters (A, B, etc.) beginning at the top of the column. Remember that
pennies with 0.2 g or less difference in mass are the same isotope.

3. C o h t the number ofatorns ofeach isotope and then determine the fractional abundance of&
isotope. Show all calculations and express the kactional abundance in decimal form.
Fractional
abundance

# of atoms of isotope
# of atoms of element

4. Calculate the average mass of

Average mass
of isotope

isotope. Show "total mass" and ''# of atoms" in your calculations.

total mass of isotope

# of atoms of isotope

5. Using the fractional abudance of each isotope and the average mass of each isotope, calculate the
atomic mass of the element Pennium
Atomic
Mass

( hctional

abundance of A

mass )
> ( average
of A

( hctional

abundance of B

average mass
of B

6. Why do the "isotopes" of pennies actually have different masses ?

7. What is the connection ktween the different masses and the dates of the pennies ? Compare data with
other groups and be specific.

6. Copper has two isotopes, copper - 63 and copper - 65. The number in the name of the isotope
indicates its mass. The relative abundances are copper - 63 (69.1 %) and copper - 65 (30.9 %). You must
divide the percent by 100 to obtain hctional abundance. Calculate the atomic mass of copper (to the
.nearest tenth). Show your calculations.

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