Candy? Lab? What?

Purpose:

• To use a Candium model to explain the concept of atomic mass.
• To analyze the isotopes of Candium and calculate its atomic mass.

Vocabulary:
Atomic Mass: The weighted average of the masses of the isotopes of an element.
Isotope: Atoms that have the same number of protons, but a different number of  neutrons.
Percent Abundance: The percentage of each type of isotope that exists in a given sample of an element. 
Relative Abundance: The number of organisms of a particular kind as a percentage of the total number of organisms of a given area or community. Example: The number of birds of a particular species as a percentage of the total bird population of a given area.
Average Mass: Mass of all added together, and divide by how many there are.
Example: 4, 3, 2, 7. Add all together- 4+3+2+7= 16. Divide by how many there are- 16/4= 4. Average Mass= 4.
Relative Mass: It is the ratio of the average mass of a molecule (or formula unit) to the twelfth of the mass of one atom of Carbon-12.

Materials:

• Sample of Candium ( Gob Stoppers, Sixlets, M&M, Skittles )
• Balance
• An open mind!

Procedure:

1. Obtain sample of Candium
2. Separate it into its 3 isotopes
3. Determine the total mass of each isotope
4. count the numbers of each isotope
5. Record data and calculations in the data table careate a data table that has the following:

               1. Average Mass of each Isotope
               2. Percent abundance of each isotope
               3. Relative abundance of each isotope
               4. Average Mass of all isotopes
   Make a data table, it should have five colums and seven rows.


Our Data Table
                  Gob Stoppers          Sixlets          M&M's          Skittle's
Average Mass: 1.815 g               .888 g           .936 g             1.01 g
Percent Abundance: 37.1%                 24.1%          27.7%             11.1%
Relative Abundance: 6                         16                 13                  22
Relative Mass:  2.004 g                    1 g              1.05 g           1.14 g
Average Mass: .567 g                   .567 g          .567 g            .567 g
(of all isotopes)



Discussion
During the lab we calculated Atomic mass, and used a Triple Beam balance.

(For definition of Isotope, look up at Vocabulary)Explain the difference between Percent abundance and Relative Abundance...
Percent Abundance deals with the percent of the isotope that is in a sample of an element; Whereas Relative Abundance deals with the number of stuff in each Isotope.

Comparing the total values of average mass between relative mass:

The Relative mass has to do with the Isotope itself, whereas the Average mass deals with all the isotopes. 

ConclusionThis Lab was really good in seeing the Atomic Mass of Isotopes. Hopefully you gained an understanding for the material, and had fun like we did!