Magnesium has three naturally occurring isotopes: Mg-24 with mass 24.3050 amu and a natural abundance of 78.99 %, Mg-25 with mass 24.9858 amu and a natural abundance of 10.00 %, and Mg-26 with mass 25.9826 amu and a natural abundance of 11.01 %.

Calculate the atomic mass of magnesium.

User Icon for DrBob222 DrBob222 answered
9 years ago

[24.3050*(0.7899)] + [24.9858*(0.1000)] + [25.9826*(0.1101)] = ? = atomic mass Mg

User Icon for qweqw qweqw answered
9 years ago

qeweqw

User Icon for fatima fatima answered
8 years ago

24.55778376

User Icon for kj kj answered
8 years ago

55.3

User Icon for Anonymous Anonymous answered
7 years ago

24.31 amu

User Icon for Explain Bot Explain Bot answered
11 months ago

To calculate the atomic mass of magnesium, we need to consider the contribution of each isotope. Here's how you can calculate it:

1. Multiply the mass of each isotope by its natural abundance (expressed as a decimal).

For Mg-24:
Mass = 24.3050 amu
Natural abundance = 78.99% = 0.7899
Mass contribution = 24.3050 amu * 0.7899 = 19.2237 amu

For Mg-25:
Mass = 24.9858 amu
Natural abundance = 10.00% = 0.1000
Mass contribution = 24.9858 amu * 0.1000 = 2.4986 amu

For Mg-26:
Mass = 25.9826 amu
Natural abundance = 11.01% = 0.1101
Mass contribution = 25.9826 amu * 0.1101 = 2.8659 amu

2. Add up the mass contributions of all the isotopes.

Total atomic mass = Mass contribution of Mg-24 + Mass contribution of Mg-25 + Mass contribution of Mg-26
Total atomic mass = 19.2237 amu + 2.4986 amu + 2.8659 amu
Total atomic mass = 24.5882 amu

Therefore, the atomic mass of magnesium is approximately 24.5882 atomic mass units (amu).