Chemistry Isotopes

Intro to Isotopes PhET Lab

https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/isotopes-and-atomic-mass

Introduction: Breath in…Breath out. Again! When you inhale air, you are not
just inhaling a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, and trace gasses, but a mixture of
different oxygen atoms and different nitrogen atoms. It turns out that all
oxygen atoms have the same number of protons, but some may have different
numbers of neutrons. These different-but-still-oxygen atoms are called
isotopes. Some atoms have just two isotopes; some have dozens!

Some handy vocabulary for you to define:

Proton ________________________________________________________________________________________________
A positively charged atom

Neutron _______________________________________________________________________________________________
A neutrally charged atom

Isotope ________________________________________________________________________________________________
Two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number and position in the periodic table

Atomic Mass ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Number of protons

Radioactive ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Act of emitting radiation

Natural Abundance ______________________________________________________________________________________

Abundance of isotopes of a chemical element

Simulation
• Take some time and play with the simulation. Imagine you are manipulating atoms! EXCITING!
• Be sure to activate and

1. How do the number of protons change as atomic number increase by one?

_____________________________________
Because the atomic number represents the number of protons.
When the atomic number increases, this means that
there are more protons and neutrons that add to the
2. How does the mass of the atoms change as atomic number increases by one? ___________________________________
atomic mass of an atom.

3. What effect does adding a neutron have on the atom’s identity? ______________________________________________
Adding a neutron makes it a neutral atom.

4. What effect does adding a neutron have on the atom’s mass? ________________________________________________
Adding a neutron increases the atom’s mass.

5. Draw the nucleus of the most abundant isotope of each of the following atoms in the boxes below. Be sure to count
and label the protons and neutrons.
MASS
6. Also show the full atomic symbol. Hydrogen has been done for you. Atomic # X
Hydrogen: H Carbon: C Oxygen: O Neon: Ne

1
1 H
Chemistry Isotopes

Complete the chart below. In some cases, you will need to work backwards to fill out missing information.

Isotope Atomic # of # of Mass Stable? Ratio of

neutrons to
Name Number Protons Neutrons Number
(Y/N) protons

Hydrogen-2
1 1 1 1 Y 1:1

Helium-3
2 2 1 3 Y 1:2

Helium-
2 2 2 5 Y 1:1

Lithium-6
3 3 3 6 Y 1:1

3 3 4 7
Oxygen-16

Oxygen-17

8 8 10 18
10 20
Neon-23
Chemistry Isotopes

MODEL 2: Mix Isotopes

Play with the “Mix Isotopes” tab for a few minutes, then answer the following questions.

1. What are the factors that affect the average atomic mass of a mixture of isotopes?
The atomic mass and abundance of the isotope.

2. Beryllium (Be) and Fluorine (F) have only one stable isotope. Use the sim and the periodic table to
complete the following table:
Average mass of 2 Average mass of 3 Atomic mass
Element Mass of 1 atom
atoms (sim) atoms (sim) (periodic table)
Beryllium 9.01218 amu 9.01218 amu 9.01218 amu 9.012
(Be)
Fluorine (F) 18.99840 amu amu

3. Why are all the values in each row of the table above the same?

4. Lithium has only two stable isotopes. Use the sim to determine the following:
a. Atomic mass of lithium-6 = __________________amu
b. Atomic mass of lithium-7 = __________________amu
c. Average atomic mass of a sample containing three lithium-6 atoms and two lithium-7 atoms.
______________amu
d. Is the average atomic mass you just determined closer to the mass of lithium-6 or lithium-7?
Explain

5. Describe a method to calculate the average atomic mass of the sample in the previous question using
only the atomic masses of lithium-6 and lithium-7 without using the simulation.
Chemistry Isotopes

6. Test your method by creating a few sample mixtures of isotopes with the sim and see if your method
correctly predicts the average atomic mass of that sample from only the atomic masses of the
isotopes and the quantity of each isotope. Use the table below to track your progress.

Average atomic mass

Atomic mass and quantity Average atomic mass of
Element of sample
of each isotope sample (from simulation)
(calculate yourself)

EXERCISES
1. Titanium has five common isotopes:
46
Ti (8.00%), mass= 45.953 amu
47
Ti (7.80%), mass= 46.952 amu
48
Ti (73.40%), mass= 47.947 amu
49
Ti (5.50%), mass= 48.948 amu
50
Ti (5.30%), mass = 49.945 amu
Calculate the average atomic mass of titanium.
Chemistry Isotopes

2. The atomic mass of boron is 10.81 amu. Boron has two isotopes: Boron-10 has a mass of 10.01
amu. Boron-11 has a mass of 11.01 amu. What is the % of each isotope in boron? (check your
answer with the simulation)

3. A certain sample of rubidium has just two isotopes, 85Rb (mass = 84.911amu) and
87
Rb (mass = 86.909amu). The atomic mass of this sample is 86.231 amu. What are the percentages
of the isotopes in this sample?