Calculate the atomic mass of silicon given the mass and natural occurrence of each isotope. Round your answer to the hundredths place.

Answer 1

The atomic mass of silicon can be calculated by considering the natural abundance of its isotopes and their respective masses.

Isotope | Natural Abundance (%) | Mass (u)
-------------------------------------------------
Si-28 | 92.23 | 27.9769
Si-29 | 4.67 | 28.9765
Si-30 | 3.1 | 29.9738

To calculate the atomic mass, we use the formula:

Atomic mass = (Natural abundance * Mass) + (Natural abundance * Mass) + ...

Atomic mass = (0.9223 * 27.9769) + (0.0467 * 28.9765) + (0.031 * 29.9738)
= 25.768087 + 1.354577 + 0.928372
≈ 28.05

Therefore, the atomic mass of silicon is approximately 28.05 amu.