Question

The average mass of all fluorine (F) atoms is 18.998 u.Do you think most fluorine atoms have 9 neutrons or 10 neutrons? Explain. ​

Answer 1

Answer:

10 neutrons

Explanation:

The mass of is made up of the total protons and neutrons in an atom.

Each particle has a mass of 1 amu (atomic mass unit).

All fluorine atoms have 9 protons.

If each proton is 1 amu, the protons must contribute 9 amu to the total mass of the atom (9 x 1 amu = 9 amu).

This means the neutrons must contribute a total mass of 10 amu (18.998 amu - 9 amu = ~10 amu).

If each neutron has a mass of 1 amu, there must be 10 neutrons in a fluorine atom (10 amu / 1 amu = 10 amu).