Bromine Isotopes: Mass, Atomic Mass & Percent Abundance

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In summary, there are two different isotopes of bromine atoms with atomic masses of 157.836 and 159.834. The average mass of a Br2 molecule is determined to be 159.801. The average atomic mass of a bromine atom is 79.901, which is half of the average molecular mass. The percent abundance of the two isotopes is 25.69% and 49.99%, respectively.
  • #1
alyse93
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There are two different isotopes of bromine atoms. Under normal conditions, elemental bromine consists of molecules, and the mass of a molecule is the sum of the masses of the two atoms in the molecule. The mass spectrum of consists of three peaks:

Mass Relative Size
157.836 0.2569
159.834 0.4999
161.832 0.2431


a)What is the isotopic composition of each peak?
b)What is the atomic mass of each isotope?
c)Determine the average mass of Br2 molecule.
d)Determine the average atomic mass of a bromine atom.
e)What is the percent abundance of the two isotopes?

here is some of my work, I am not sure if this correct, can someone help me get through the questions with explantons on how to do them.
(157.836 x 0.2569 + 159.834 x 0.4999 + 161.832 x 0.2431)/2 <- i think this gives me a mass
 
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  • #2
Yes, that would be a molar mass of the Br2.

Each molecule is made of two atoms. There are two kinds of atoms - a lighter one, and a heavier one. What combinations of these atoms are possible? Can you assign these combinations to the peaks?
 
  • #3
That's a standard procedure of finding the weighted average molecular mass depending on the abundance of each isotope. Its just like finding the centre of mass for a system.
 

1. What are isotopes?

Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have a different number of neutrons in their nucleus. This results in a different mass number, but the same number of protons and electrons.

2. How is mass number of an isotope determined?

The mass number of an isotope is determined by the total number of protons and neutrons in its nucleus. This number is written as a superscript to the left of the element's symbol.

3. What is atomic mass?

Atomic mass is the weighted average of the masses of all the naturally occurring isotopes of an element. It takes into account the mass and relative abundance of each isotope.

4. How is the atomic mass of an element calculated?

The atomic mass of an element is calculated by multiplying the mass of each isotope by its percent abundance (expressed as a decimal), and then adding all the values together.

5. What is percent abundance?

Percent abundance is the percentage of a specific isotope that occurs naturally in a sample of an element. It is determined by dividing the number of atoms of that isotope by the total number of atoms of all the isotopes of that element, and then multiplying by 100.

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