Magnesium has three isotopes, 24Mg, 25Mg and 26Mg . The relative abundance of the 26Mg isotope is 10%.The relative atomic mass of Mg is 24.3 . What is the relative abundance of the 24Mg isotope ?
relative abundance 26 = 10% or 0.1
relative abundance 24 = x
relative abundance 25 = 90-x or 0.9-x
Then 24x + 26(0.1) + 25(0.9-x) = 24.3
Solve for x
To find the relative abundance of the 24Mg isotope, we can use the principle that the sum of the relative abundances of all isotopes of an element should add up to 100%.
Let's denote the relative abundance of 24Mg as x. Since the abundance of 26Mg is given as 10%, we can calculate the abundance of the remaining isotope 25Mg as (100% - 10%) = 90%.
Now, based on the information provided, we can write the equation:
x + 90% + 10% = 100%
Simplifying the equation, we get:
x + 90% = 100% - 10%
x + 90% = 90%
Subtracting 90% from both sides, we have:
x = 0
Therefore, the relative abundance of the 24Mg isotope is 0%.