High School

Naturally occurring potassium consists of potassium-39 and potassium-41. Calculate the percentage of each isotope present if the average atomic mass is 39.1.

Answer :

When the average is 39.1, naturally occurring potassium consists of 50% potassium-39 and 50% potassium-41.

An isotope is a variant of an element that has the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons in its nucleus. Potassium has two naturally occurring isotopes: potassium-39 and potassium-41. To calculate the percentage of each isotope present when the average is 39.1, we can use the following formula:

% of potassium-39 = (39.1 - 41) / (39 - 41) x 100%
% of potassium-41 = 100% - % of potassium-39

Using this formula, we can first calculate the percentage of potassium-39:

% of potassium-39 = (39.1 - 41) / (39 - 41) x 100%
% of potassium-39 = -1 / (-2) x 100%
% of potassium-39 = 50%

This means that potassium-39 makes up 50% of the naturally occurring potassium. To calculate the percentage of potassium-41, we simply subtract the percentage of potassium-39 from 100%:

% of potassium-41 = 100% - 50%
% of potassium-41 = 50%

Therefore, potassium-41 also makes up 50% of the naturally occurring potassium. In summary, when the average is 39.1, naturally occurring potassium consists of 50% potassium-39 and 50% potassium-41.

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