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Are the atomic masses of some elements actually fractional?
Pinkbandsweety
Atomic Mass is not the same as atomic weight.
It refers to the weight in amu (atomic mass units ) of a specific isotope. These weights are not whole numbers, the mass of protons and neutrons are slightly different and there is the phenomenon of binding energy of the nucleus which is obseved as a difference in mass (sometimes expressed as the packing fraction).
For atomic weights the main reason is that naturally occuring elements consist of mixtures of isotopes.
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoYes, because some elements have more than one stable isotope. The isotopes individually have integral numbers of atomic mass units, but the value for the element is the average of the mass of all the naturally occurring isotopes, weighted by their relative abundances in nature, and this average is often fractional. Chlorine, for example, has isotopes of mass numbers 35 and 37, and the elemental atomic mass of about 35.5 indicates that the lower mass isotope is about three times more common than the higher mass one.
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When masses combine to form elements with larger masses?
Atomic fusion occurs when masses combine to form elements with larger mass.
What elements have such small masses that they are not even considered when atomic masses are calculated?
Electrons
Early attempts at organizing the element arranged them according to?
properties of the elements and atomic masses
How are elements with atomic masses greater than uranium made?
Elements that have greater atomic masses then uranium are created using nuclear fission.
Why some elements possess fractional atomic mass?
It is mostly because elements have many isotopes and their average comes to be also fractional.We cannot weigh the atom therefore its atomic mass is fractional.Even elements with only 1 naturally occurring isotope have fractional mass. This is because the nuclear binding energy is a very large (negative) energy, and it shows up in the atomic mass because of the relativistic adjustment that has to be made --E= mc2,
What did Dimitri Mendeleeve do?
Dmitri arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic masses. He arranged elements in rows and columns according to atomic masses.
How did Mendeleev arrange chemical elements?
He arranged the elements in the increasing order of their atomic masses and repeating periodic properties.
When masses combine to form elements with larger masses?
Atomic fusion occurs when masses combine to form elements with larger mass.
What elements have such small masses that they are not even considered when atomic masses are calculated?
Electrons
How are the atomic numbers and the atomic masses of the elements related to how the elements are arranged on peridoic table?
Elements are arranged in a periodic table by atomic number, lower on top and left. Atomic masses have no direct relationship to the arrangement of atoms, although generally atoms with higher atomic numbers will have higher atomic masses. (There are at least three exceptions for atoms with atomic numbers differing by 1.)
Do all elements have different atomic masses?
yes
Early attempts at organizing the element arranged them according to?
properties of the elements and atomic masses
Why aren't atomic masses of elements not whole numbers?
because of its no. in table of elements
How are elements with atomic masses greater than uranium made?
Elements that have greater atomic masses then uranium are created using nuclear fission.
Why are most atomic masses a decimal?
The atomic mass of an isotope of an element is the mass of the nucleons (neutrons + protons) in an atom of that isotope. This is nearly, though not exactly, equal to the number of nucleons, and so is nearly a whole number.The main cause for the atomic mass being fractional is that most elements have numerous isotopes, each with a different number of neutrons and so a different atomic mass. The atomic mass for an element is the average of the atomic masses of all its isotopes, weighted together in the proportion of the isotopes' abundance on earth. It is this weighting together that results in the numbers being fractional.
Why some elements possess fractional atomic mass?
It is mostly because elements have many isotopes and their average comes to be also fractional.We cannot weigh the atom therefore its atomic mass is fractional.Even elements with only 1 naturally occurring isotope have fractional mass. This is because the nuclear binding energy is a very large (negative) energy, and it shows up in the atomic mass because of the relativistic adjustment that has to be made --E= mc2,
What neighboring elements have atomic masses out of order?
Tellurium and Iodine
