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11 grade chemistry others

What is the average atomic mass of lithium?

Profile image of Aniket Singh
1 Year agoGrade
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Profile image of Askiitians Tutor Team
1 Year ago

The average atomic mass of lithium can be calculated based on the natural abundance of its isotopes and their respective atomic masses.

Lithium has two stable isotopes: lithium-6 and lithium-7. The percentage abundance of these isotopes in naturally occurring lithium is approximately 7.5% for lithium-6 and 92.5% for lithium-7.

The atomic masses of lithium-6 and lithium-7 are approximately 6.0151223 atomic mass units (u) and 7.0160040 atomic mass units (u), respectively.

To calculate the average atomic mass of lithium, we use the following formula:

Average Atomic Mass = (Abundance of isotope 1 * Atomic mass of isotope 1) + (Abundance of isotope 2 * Atomic mass of isotope 2)

Average Atomic Mass of lithium = (0.075 * 6.0151223) + (0.925 * 7.0160040)
Average Atomic Mass of lithium ≈ 6.941 atomic mass units (u)

Therefore, the average atomic mass of lithium is approximately 6.941 atomic mass units.