Question
Question: What is the mass of lead atoms?...
What is the mass of lead atoms?
Solution
-The atomic mass is the weighted average of all of the isotopes of that element, in which the mass of each isotope is multiplied by the abundance of that particular isotope.
-Atomic mass is also referred to as atomic weight, but the term “mass” is more accurate.
Complete step by step answer:
The atomic mass of an element is the average mass of the atoms of an element measured in atomic mass unit amu, also known as Dalton's D.
For instance it can be determined experimentally that neon consists of three isotopes: neon- 20(with 10 protons and 10 neutrons in its nucleus) with a mass of 19.992amu and in abundance of 90.40 whereas, neon- 21 which has a mass of 20.944amu and an abundance of 0.27, and the neon- 22 (with 10 protons and 12 neutrons) with a mass of 21.991amu and an abundance of 9.25 . the average atomic mass of neon is
0.9048×19.992amu=18.09amu
0.0027×20.994amu=0.057amu
0.0925×21.991amu=2.03amu
Total mass =20.18amu
Similarly, we got the mass of lead ( Pb ) atom to follow the above procedure in order to get 207.2amu.
The four stable isotopes of lead are 204Pb , 206Pb ,207Pb and 208Pb, with abundances 1.4, 24.1 , 22.1 and 52.4 respectively, which combine in order to give a value of standard atomic weight as 207.2amu.
Note: The original periodic table of the elements published by Dimitri Mandeleev in 1869 arranged the elements that were known at that time in order of increasing atomic weights, since this was prior to the discovery of nucleus and the interior structure of the atom.
-The atomic mass of an element can be calculated by taking the sum of masses of all the isotopes of that element and their specific abundances in nature.