Chemistry Lab… Need Help Determining Abundance Of Isotopes?
Create a system of equations and solve. Example: Element X has two isotopes. One isotope X-54 has a mass of 53.9875 amu. The other isotope X-56 has a mass of 56.09211 amu. The average atomic mass of element X is 55.7 amu. Calculate the percent abundance of each isotope. We start off by creating a system of equations. (53.9875x)+(56.09211y)=55.7 x and y are the percent abundances as decimals and since since they’re decimals the percents must add up to 1 or 100% meaning x+y=1. (53.9875x)+(56.09211y)=55.7 x+y=1 solve the second equation for y. x+y=1 y=1-x substitute this into the first equation for y. (53.9875x)+(56.09211y)=55.7 (53.9875x)+(56.09211)(1-x)=55.7 distribute, combine like terms and solve 53.9875x+56.09211-56.09211x=55.7 -2.10461x=-0.39211 x=0.186 So since x=0.186 and x+y=1 then y=1-0.186=0.814 x=percent abundance of X-54=0.186*100=18.6% y=percent abundance of X-56=0.814*100=81.4% And that would be your percent abundances. Now you can follow the steps I used to complete your a
