Lab 2B

Prompt: Summarize the purpose of the lab. Report your average atomic mass for Candium and answer the four concluding questions from your lab manual in your post.

Summary: The goal of this lab was to go through a number of steps to find the average atomic mass for the element Candium. This was achieved by counting the different isotopes(regular m&m's, peanut m&m's, and pretzel m&m's) and then averaging their individual masses. The average atomic mass for our sample of Candium was 1.413 amu.

1. Our atomic mass would be different because our sample sizes would have different numbers of each of the isotopes. Because the calculation for average atomic mass is based on the percentage of each isotope, if you had different percentages of the isotope your atomic mass number would be different.

2. If larger samples were used the difference between my sample and other group's samples would be smaller. When sample size is increased, your result is more accurate and representative of the correct value.

3. No. The average atomic mass is an average of all the isotopes, so it is not the exact weight of any of the isotopes, so if you weighed an isotope it would most likely not be the average atomic mass.

4.