How is an average mass different from a weighted average mass?
Weighted means there is a percent abundance given to each constituent isotope.
Suppose you are computing an average for a number of type of masses. They might be isotopes in this case. A weighted average would take into account how much of each isotope is there. A "plain" average would just be an average mass for the various n types. (i.e., add them up and divide by n)
what you mean by N type?
N, as in number of constituents, ie, the number of isotopes in the natural element.
N is the number of types of things or substances you are averaging. In the case of an isotope mixture of an element, it would be the number of isotopes
An average mass refers to a calculation that determines the average value of a set of masses. It is the sum of the individual masses divided by the number of masses.
On the other hand, a weighted average mass takes into account the relative importance or significance of each mass in the set. It assigns weights to each mass depending on certain criteria, such as abundance or frequency. These weights reflect the contribution of each mass towards the overall average.
To calculate an average mass, you simply add up the masses of all the objects and divide by the number of objects. For example, if you have three objects with masses of 2 kg, 4 kg, and 6 kg, the average mass would be (2 + 4 + 6) / 3 = 4 kg.
In contrast, to calculate a weighted average mass, you multiply each mass by its corresponding weight and then sum up these weighted values. The result is then divided by the sum of the weights. Let's say you have three objects again, but this time each object has a weight of 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The weighted average mass would be ((2*1) + (4*2) + (6*3)) / (1 + 2 + 3) = 4.67 kg.
Thus, the main difference between an average mass and a weighted average mass lies in the consideration of weights. While an average mass treats all objects equally, a weighted average mass takes into account the significance of each object by assigning different weights to them.