High School

What is the average atomic mass of chlorine if 25% is Cl-37 and 75% is Cl-35?

Options:
A. 36.5
B. 36
C. 35
D. 35.5

Answer :

The nearest hundredth, the average atomic mass of chlorine is approximately 35.47 amu. Option B

To calculate the average atomic mass of chlorine, we need to consider the relative abundance and atomic mass of each isotope. In this case, we have two isotopes of chlorine: chlorine-37 (Cl-37) and chlorine-35 (Cl-35).

Given that 25% of chlorine is Cl-37 and 75% is Cl-35, we can calculate the average atomic mass using the following steps:

Step 1: Calculate the contribution of each isotope to the average atomic mass:

Contribution of Cl-37 = (25/100) × (atomic mass of Cl-37)

Contribution of Cl-35 = (75/100) × (atomic mass of Cl-35)

Step 2: Add the contributions to obtain the average atomic mass:

Average atomic mass = Contribution of Cl-37 + Contribution of Cl-35

To calculate the average atomic mass, we need to know the atomic masses of Cl-37 and Cl-35. The atomic mass of an isotope is the mass of one atom of that isotope relative to the mass of a carbon-12 atom, which is assigned a mass of exactly 12 atomic mass units (amu).

The atomic mass of Cl-37 is approximately 36.966 amu, and the atomic mass of Cl-35 is approximately 34.968 amu.

Now, let's substitute these values into the formula to calculate the average atomic mass:

Average atomic mass = (0.25 × 36.966 amu) + (0.75 × 34.968 amu)

= 9.2415 amu + 26.226 amu

= 35.4675 amu

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