To calculate the average atomic mass of neon using the given isotopes and their natural abundances, the student can set up the calculation as follows:
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Convert the natural abundance percentages to decimal form by dividing by 100.
- For neon-20: \(90.48% = 0.9048\)
- For neon-21: \(0.27% = 0.0027\)
- For neon-22: \(9.25% = 0.0925\)
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Multiply the atomic mass of each isotope by its corresponding decimal abundance:
- Neon-20 contribution: \(19.992 , \text{amu} \times 0.9048\)
- Neon-21 contribution: \(20.993 , \text{amu} \times 0.0027\)
- Neon-22 contribution: \(21.991 , \text{amu} \times 0.0925\)
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Add the contributions from each isotope to get the average atomic mass: \[ \text{Average Atomic Mass} = (19.992 \times 0.9048) + (20.993 \times 0.0027) + (21.991 \times 0.0925) \]
This setup provides the correct method for calculating the average atomic mass of neon based on the isotopes and their natural abundances.
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