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Ch.2 - Atoms, Molecules, and Ions
Chapter 2, Problem 88b

The natural abundance of 3He is 0.000137%. (b) Based on the sum of the masses of their subatomic particles, which is expected to be more massive, an atom of 3He or an atom of 3H (which is also called tritium)?

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Subatomic Particles

Atoms are composed of subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons and neutrons reside in the nucleus and contribute to the atomic mass, while electrons are much lighter and orbit the nucleus. The number of protons defines the element, while the number of neutrons can vary, leading to different isotopes.
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Subatomic Particles

Isotopes

Isotopes are variants of a chemical element that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. For example, both helium-3 (³He) and tritium (³H) are isotopes of hydrogen, with ³He having two protons and one neutron, while ³H has one proton and two neutrons. This difference in neutron count affects their mass and stability.
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Atomic Mass Calculation

The atomic mass of an isotope is calculated based on the sum of the masses of its subatomic particles. For ³He, the mass is derived from 2 protons and 1 neutron, while for ³H, it comes from 1 proton and 2 neutrons. Understanding how to calculate and compare these masses is essential for determining which isotope is more massive.
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Related Practice
Textbook Question

Suppose a scientist repeats the Millikan oil-drop experiment but reports the charges on the drops using an unusual (and imaginary) unit called the warmomb (wa). The scientist obtains the following data for four of the drops: Droplet Calculated Charge (wa) A 3.84⨉10−8 B 4.80⨉10−8 C 2.88⨉10−8 D 8.64⨉10−8 (c) Based on your answer to part (b), how many electrons are there on each of the droplets?

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Textbook Question

Suppose a scientist repeats the Millikan oil-drop experiment but reports the charges on the drops using an unusual (and imaginary) unit called the warmomb (wa). The scientist obtains the following data for four of the drops: Droplet Calculated Charge (wa) A 3.84⨉10−8 B 4.80⨉10−8 C 2.88⨉10−8 D 8.64⨉10−8 (d) What is the conversion factor between warmombs and coulombs?

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Textbook Question

The natural abundance of 3He is 0.000137%. (a) How many protons, neutrons, and electrons are in an atom of 3He?

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Textbook Question

The natural abundance of 3He is 0.000137%. (c) Based on your answer to part (b), what would need to be the precision of a mass spectrometer that is able to differentiate between peaks that are due to 3He+ and 3H+?

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Textbook Question

A cube of gold that is 1.00 cm on a side has a mass of 19.3 g. A single gold atom has a mass of 197.0 u. (a) How many gold atoms are in the cube?

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Textbook Question

A cube of gold that is 1.00 cm on a side has a mass of 19.3 g. A single gold atom has a mass of 197.0 u. (b) From the information given, estimate the diameter in Å of a single gold atom.

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