Silver has two stable isotopes with masses of 106.90509 amu and 108.9047 amu.The average molar mass of silver is 107.868 amu.What is the percent abundance of each isotope?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Let x be the percent abundance of Ag-107 and (100-x) be the percent abundance of Ag-109. Then we can set up the following equation:

(0.0105909 amu)x + (0.010847 amu)(100-x) = 0.0107868 amu

Solving for x gives x = 51.8%, which means the percent abundance of Ag-107 is 51.8% and the percent abundance of Ag-109 is 48.2%. Therefore, the correct answer is choice B.

Silver Has Two Stable Isotopes with Masses of 106