Topic: 1.2.

2
Isotopes

Guiding Question:
How do the Nuclei of Atoms Differ?
Topic: 1.2.2
Isotopes
Why Relative Mass?
• The masses of atoms of all elements range from 1x10-24 to 1x10-22 grams.
• These numbers are difficult to manage so we use Relative Values.
• To use relative values, a standard must be agreed upon.
• The carbon-12 isotope was chosen as the standard in 1961 and was given the
relative mass of 12.000 exactly.
Relative Atomic Mass
• There are 3 different isotopes of magnesium…

• Isotopes have different Abundance (some

are more common than others)

• So, taking a simple average of the masses is

not possible.
Relative
Atomic Mass
‘The Relative Atomic Mass is the
weighted average mass of all the
relative isotopic masses of the
isotopes of that element compared to
the mass of the 12C isotope’
Calculating Relative Atomic Mass
Chlorine has 2 isotopes… Chlorine - 35 and Chlorine – 37

75% of Chlorine atoms are 35Cl

25% of Chlorine atoms are 37Cl

R.A.M = (Mass of Isotope 1 x Abundance of Isotope 1) + (Mass of Isotope 2 x Abundance of Isotope 2)

100

R.A.M = (35 x 75) + (37 x 25) = 35.5

100
Calculating Relative Atomic Mass
Calculate the following relative atomic masses (answers to 4dp):

• Nitrogen N - 14 = 99.64% N - 15 = 0.36%

• Carbon C - 12 = 98.93% C - 13 = 1.07%
• Potassium K - 39 = 93.2% K - 41 = 6.8%
• Boron B - 10 = 19.9% B - 11 = 81.1%
• Silicon Si - 28 = 92.2% Si - 29 = 4.68 Si - 30 = 3.08%
Calculating
Percentage
Abundance
A sample of Boron consists of 10B
and 11B.
If the average Relative Atomic
Mass of Boron is 10.8,what is the
percentage abundance of each
Boron isotope?
A sample of Boron consists of 10B
and 11B.
If the average Relative Atomic
Mass of Boron is 10.8,
what is the % abundance of
each Boron isotope?

Assign X and Y values:

X = % 10B Y = % 11B
Determine Y in terms of X…
X + Y = 100
Therefore … Y = 100 - X
A sample of Boron consists of 10B
and 11B.
If the average Relative Atomic
Mass of Boron is 10.8,
what is the % abundance of
each Boron isotope?

Assign X and Y values:

X = % 10B Y = % 11B
Determine Y in terms of X…
X + Y = 100
Therefore … Y = 100 - X
Calculating
Percentage
Abundance
Copper has two isotopes 63Cu and
65
Cu.
What is the % abundance of each
isotope?

Ar copper = 63.55