A naturally occurring sample of neon gas consists of 90\% ^{20}\text{Ne} and 10\% ^{22}\te… — JAMB UTME

A naturally occurring sample of neon gas consists of $90\%$ $^{20}\text{Ne}$ and $10\%$ $^{22}\text{Ne}$ . What is the relative atomic mass of neon in this sample?

Answer: 20.2

Answer

The relative atomic mass of neon in the sample is 20.2.

The relative atomic mass of an element is calculated by summing the products of the mass number of each isotope and its fractional abundance:

\text{RAM} = (20 \times 0.90) + (22 \times 0.10) = 18.0 + 2.2 = 20.2

Step-by-Step Solution

Calculate the weighted contribution of

^{20}\text{Ne}

20 \times 0.90 = 18.0

The isotope

^{20}\text{Ne}

accounts for

90\%

of the sample.

Calculate the weighted contribution of

^{22}\text{Ne}

22 \times 0.10 = 2.2

The isotope

^{22}\text{Ne}

accounts for

10\%

of the sample.

Sum the weighted contributions to find the relative atomic mass

18.0 + 2.2 = 20.2

The relative atomic mass is the weighted average of the atomic masses of naturally occurring isotopes.

Key Concept

Calculation of Relative Atomic Mass from Isotopic Abundance

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