The Atomic Mass - Calculating the Weight of Gallium Atoms

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around calculating the number of gallium atoms that weigh 69.70 amu based on the average atomic mass of gallium, which is 69.72 amu. The original poster is confused about how to approach the problem, initially suggesting that all atoms would weigh 69.70 amu. However, the correct method involves understanding the average atomic mass as a weighted average of the two isotopes of gallium. Participants suggest using the formula for average atomic mass to determine the ratio of the isotopes and then applying this ratio to the total number of gallium atoms (1,700,000,000,000,000,000) to find the specific counts of each isotope. The key takeaway is to calculate the proportions of the isotopes based on their atomic masses and then use these proportions to find the number of atoms corresponding to each isotope in the given total.
rumaithya
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The Atomic Mass!

Hello, I have a problem of getting the answer of this question and I still don't understand it. The question is

According to the Periodic Table, the average atomic mass of a gallium atom is 69.72 amu. Naturally occurring gallium has two nuclides ("isotopes"). If you have a pile with 1,700,000,000,000,000,000 atoms of gallium, how many of them will weigh 69.70 amu?

What I though is that the answer is "1,700,000,000,000,000,000" and I thought it's same as when we say we have a red apple and how many red apples are in 1700000000 red apples. That's sounds strange and probbly wrong I'm not sure . Do we have to do this -> 1,700,000,000,000,000,000 / 69.72 to get the answer?

... Any ideas?
Thanks
 
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Find the atomic mass of the two gallium isotopes.

69.72 =[(number of Isotope 1)(atomic mass)+(number of Isotope 2)(atomic mass)] / 1,700,000,000,000,000,000

Solve so that you obtain (number of isotope 1)/(number of isotope 2)

Try to do it yourself first.

The above will be the proportion. For example if the proportion is 1/3 the total percentage of a particular isotope will be either 1/4 or 3/4. Multiply this percentage with 1,700,000,000,000,000,000.
 
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Thanks a lot for your help :smile:
 
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