Question

The two naturally occuring isotopes of antimony are 121Sb (57.21%) and 123Sb (42.79%), with isotopic masses of 120.904 and 122.904 u, respectively. Compute the average atomic weight of naturally occurring antimony.

Answer 1

Answer:

The average atomic weight = 121.7598 amu

Explanation:

The average atomic weight of natural occurring antimony can be calculated as follows :

To calculate the average atomic mass the percentage abundance must be converted to decimal.

121 Sb has a percentage abundance of 57.21%, the decimal format will be

57.21/100 = 0.5721 . The value is the fractional abundance of 121 Sb .

123 Sb has a percentage abundance of 42.79%, the decimal format will be

42.79/100 = 0.4279. The value is the fractional abundance of 123 Sb .

Next step is multiplying the fractional abundance to it masses

121 Sb = 0.5721 × 120.904 = 69.169178400

123 Sb = 0.4279 × 122.904 = 52.590621600

The final step is adding the value to get the average atomic weight.

69.169178400 + 52.590621600 = 121.7598 amu