Answer: The average atomic mass of element X is 59.3 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:
[tex]\text{Average atomic mass }=\sum_{i=1}^n\text{(Atomic mass of an isotopes)}_i\times \text{(Fractional abundance})_i[/tex] .....(1)
Mass of isotope 1 = 59.015 amu
Percentage abundance of isotope 1 = 91.7 %
Fractional abundance of isotope 1 = 0.917
Mass of isotope 2 = 62.011 amu
Percentage abundance of isotope 2 = (100 - 91.7) % = 8.3 %
Fractional abundance of isotope 2 = 0.083
Putting values in equation 1, we get:
[tex]\text{Average atomic mass of X}=[(59.015\times 0.917)+(62.011\times 0.083)][/tex]
[tex]\text{Average atomic mass of X}=59.3amu[/tex]
Hence, the average atomic mass of element X is 59.3 amu.
