Question

On another planet, the isotopes of titanium have the given natural abundances. Isotope Abundance Mass (u) 46Ti 70.600% 45.95263 48Ti 11.900% 47.94795 50Ti 17.500% 49.94479 What is the average atomic mass of titanium on that planet? average atomic mass = 47.867

Answer 1

Answer: The average atomic mass of element titanium is 46.889 amu.  

Explanation:

Average atomic mass of an element is defined as the sum of masses of each isotope each multiplied by their natural fractional abundance.

Formula used to calculate average atomic mass follows:

$\text{Average atomic mass }=\sum_{i=1}^n\text{(Atomic mass of an isotopes)}_i\times \text{(Fractional abundance})_i$ .....(1)

• For isotope 1 (Ti-46) :

Mass of isotope 1 = 45.95263 amu

Percentage abundance of isotope 1 = 70.600 %

Fractional abundance of isotope 1 = 0.70600

• For isotope 2 (Ti-48) :

Mass of isotope 2 = 47.94795 amu

Percentage abundance of isotope 2 = 11.900 %

Fractional abundance of isotope 2 = 0.11900

• For isotope 3 (Ti-50) :

Mass of isotope 3 = 49.94479 amu

Percentage abundance of isotope 3 = 17.500 %

Fractional abundance of isotope 3 = 0.17500

Putting values in equation 1, we get:

$\text{Average atomic mass of titanium}=[(45.95263\times 0.70600)+(47.94795\times 0.11900)+(49.94479\times 0.17500)]$

$\text{Average atomic mass of titanium}=46.889amu$

Hence, the average atomic mass of element titanium is 46.889 amu.