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Chapter 2: Problem 41

Which statement is probably true concerning the masses of individual chlorine atoms: All have, some have, or none has a mass of 35.4527 u? Explain.

Short Answer

Expert verified
None of the chlorine atoms has a mass of 35.4527 u. The given mass is an average value, considering the natural abundance of different chlorine isotopes.

Step by step solution

01

Understand the Isotopes

Isotopes are variants of a particular chemical element with differing numbers of neutrons, hence different mass numbers. However, different isotopes of a single element will all have the same number of protons. Therefore, Chlorine has different isotopes with different masses but they all have the same atomic number.
02

Identify the Chlorine Isotopes

There are two stable isotopes of chlorine: Chlorine-35 and Chlorine-37. Chlorine-35 has an atomic mass of approximately 34.96885 u and makes up about 75% of naturally occurring Chlorine. Chlorine-37, on the other hand, has a mass of approximately 36.96590 u and constitutes the remaining 25%.
03

Evaluate the Given Mass

The given atomic mass, 35.4527 u, is the average atomic mass of chlorine taking into consideration the natural abundance of its isotopes. Therefore, it is not the exact mass of each chlorine atom, but an average value.
04

Formulate the Conclusion

Since the atomic mass given is an average and does not match exactly with the individual isotopes, no single chlorine atom will have an atomic mass of 35.4527 u. The masses of individual chlorine atoms will vary depending on whether they are chlorine-35 or chlorine-37.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

In each case, identify the element in question. (a) The mass number of an atom is 234 and the atom has \(60.0 \%\) more neutrons than protons. (b) An ion with a \(2+\) charge has \(10.0 \%\) more protons than electrons. (c) An ion with a mass number of 110 and a \(2+\) charge has \(25.0 \%\) more neutrons than electrons.

There are three common iron-oxygen compounds. The one with the greatest proportion of iron has one Fe atom for every \(\mathrm{O}\) atom and the formula \(\mathrm{FeO}\). A second compound has 2.327 g Fe per \(1.000 \mathrm{g} \mathrm{O},\) and the third has \(2.618 \mathrm{g}\) Fe per \(1.000 \mathrm{g}\) O. What are the formulas of these other two iron-oxygen compounds?

Some foods are made safer to eat by being exposed to gamma rays from radioactive isotopes, such as cobalt-60. The energy from the gamma rays kills bacteria in the food. How many neutrons, protons, and electrons are there in an atom of cobalt-60?

The four naturally occurring isotopes of strontium have the atomic masses 83.9134 u; 85.9093 u; 86.9089 u; and 87.9056 u. The percent natural abundance of the lightest isotope is \(0.56 \%\) and of the heaviest, \(82.58 \%\) Estimate the percent natural abundances of the other two. Why is this result only a rough approximation?

William Prout (1815) proposed that all other atoms are built up of hydrogen atoms, suggesting that all elements should have integral atomic masses based on an atomic mass of one for hydrogen. This hypothesis appeared discredited by the discovery of atomic masses, such as 24.3 u for magnesium and 35.5 u for chlorine. In terms of modern knowledge, explain why Prout's hypothesis is actually quite reasonable.
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