Doubt regarding Relative Atomic Mass and fractions
I saw in a book that, Relative Atomic Mass can't be fraction.. so what would be the RAM of Chlorine, as the AAM of Cl is 35.5 amu, but RAM doesn't consider fraction..
13 Replies
@Dexter
Note for OP
+solved @user1 @user2... to close the thread when your doubt is solved. Mention the users who helped you solve the doubt. This will be added to their stats.Chlorine exists in 2 isotopic forms with relative atomic masses 35 and 37. Both of them have a considerable relative abundance i.e. both of them exist in "not to be neglected" amounts in nature. So we consider the average atomic mass for calculations with chlorine.
Oxygen has 2 isotopic forms to (16 and 18) but one (16) dominates the other by a large margin, so we don't consider the same as we did with chlorine.
I'm sorry, that's not what I meant, 35.5 is Chlorine's (actual) average atomic mass, i know. But, what is the Relative Atomic Mass of Chlorine? (As ram cant be fraction)
35.5u isn't the actual atomic mass
It is the relative atomic mass just averaged for both isotopes
It is what you practically simplifies our calculations
But ram cant be fraction , can it?
it's my doubt that if it cant be fraction then why 35.5
For a particular isotope, NO
But for average, yes it can be
That's my take
Oh, alright, thanks for the infos.
I see, if anyone comes with more simplified answer 😅
Most Welcome
I hope it gets clearer when someone adds up a bit
I'll add it here if I get something more about this
The same thing shows up everywhere though
I guess it isn't for a particular isotope
It's just got to do with how you define it
Ahhh, i guess ur right then, maybe the fractional thing isnt for isotopes. I also searched quite a few times and got the same results as well, Thanks for helping
+solved @Varun_Arora
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