Name: _____________________________

RELATIVE ATOMIC MASS

The relative atomic mass (Ar) of atoms is the average mass of all the different isotopes of an element (taking into
12
account the amount of each isotope) on a scale where C atoms have a mass of exactly 12.

Imagine you have 90 balls with mass 200 g, and 10 balls with mass 300 g. The average mass of the balls is
given by:

Average mass of balls = total mass of all the balls = [ (90 x 200) + (10 x 300) ] = 21000 = 210 g
total number of balls 90 + 10 100

The relative atomic mass of atoms is worked out in a similar way:

Relative atomic mass (Ar) = total mass of all atoms

total number of atoms

Element Isotopes Abundance Relative atomic mass (Ar) (to 3sf)

Chlorine 35 75.8%
17Cl
37 75.8 + 24.2 100
17Cl 24.2%

Lithium 6
3Li 7.6%
7
3Li 92.4%

Bromine 79 50.7%
35Br
81 49.3%
35Br

Copper 63
29Cu 69.2%
65 30.8%
29Cu

Fluorine 19
9F 100.0%

Magnesium 24
12Mg 79.0%
25 10.0%
12Mg
26 11.0%
12Mg

Iron 54 5.8%
26Fe
56 91.8%
26Fe
57 2.1%
26Fe
58 0.3%
26Fe

Krypton 78
36Kr 0.4%
80
36Kr 2.3%
82
36Kr 11.6%
83
36Kr 11.5%
84
36Kr 57.0%
85 17.3%
36Kr