Isotopes!

Introduction

In this WebQuest, we'll be learning how to better understand what an isotope is, as well as how to identify an isotope, and to better understand percent abundances! 

By the end of this, hopefully, you would have learned more about how isotopes work and what they are! Are you ready? Let's go!

Task

Our task is being able to solve a problem that has to do with being able to identify what an isotope is, what a percent abundance is, and how to find the mass of an isotope! To help with that, let's look at these websites below:

  1. https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Furman_University/CHM101%3A_Chemistry_and_Global_Awareness_(Gordon)/03%3A_Atoms_and_the_Periodic_Table/3.05%3A_Isotopes
  2. https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_Chemistry/Introductory_Chemistry_(CK-12)/04:_Atomic_Structure/4.20:_Calculating_Average_Atomic_Mass
  3. https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/University_of_Arkansas_Little_Rock/Chem_1402:_General_Chemistry_1_(Kattoum)/Text/2:_Atoms,_Molecules,_and_Ions/2.03:_Isotopic_Abundance_and_Atomic_Weight
  4. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-calculate-atomic-mass-603823
  5. https://easytocalculate.com/how-to-calculate-percent-abundance/
Process
  1. Go to each website.
  2. Look over the summaries of the topic, then try at each of the problems.
  3. After solving, or at least attempting to solve a problem, check your answers! If you're right, awesome. If not? Try, try again!
  4. When you finish as many problems as you could, give yourself a nice pat on the back and eat a snack -- you did it!
Conclusion

So, what have we learned? Well...

  1. One, we learned that isotopes are elements with atoms that have differing numbers of neutrons! 
  2. Two, each isotope has different percent abundances that make up an element, and to find that the formula is as follows: (percent as a decimal (x) x mass of isotope) + (percent as a decimal (x-1) x mass of isotope) = average atomic mass
  3. Lastly, every isotope has its own mass that makes up the average atomic mass of the element it belongs to! To find the average atomic mass, you need to use this formula: (percent as a decimal x mass of isotope) + (percent as a decimal x mass of isotope) + ...

Hope this helps, goodbye and happy learning!