Why are the atomic masses listed in the periodic table not whole numbers?
Answer
Scientists have yet to make the precise measurements.
That would be too much of a coincidence.
??>>The atomic masses are average atomic masses.
or >>Today's instruments are able to measure the atomic masses to many decimal places.
The atomic masses are average atomic masses
Find the relative atomic masses of koh
>>The atomic masses are average atomic masses.
The correct answer is: ??>>The atomic masses are average atomic masses.
The atomic masses listed in the periodic table are not whole numbers because they are average atomic masses. Atomic masses are calculated by taking into account the isotopes of an element and their relative abundance in nature. Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons, resulting in different mass numbers.
Since different isotopes have different masses, the atomic mass listed on the periodic table is an average of the masses of all the naturally occurring isotopes of that element. This is because elements can have multiple isotopes with varying abundances. For example, the element carbon has two stable isotopes, carbon-12 and carbon-13, with atomic masses of 12.000 and 13.003 respectively. The atomic mass listed on the periodic table for carbon is 12.01, which is the average of the masses of carbon-12 and carbon-13 based on their natural abundances.
Therefore, the atomic masses listed on the periodic table are not whole numbers because they take into account the weighted average of the masses of all the isotopes present in nature.