How do you calculate percent abundance? I know how to calculate average atomic mass using percent abundance, but I'm not sure how to calculate percent abundance itself.

Question

unklerhaukus · Answer

i think percent abundance is measured rather than calculated

anonymous · Answer

how would you measure it?

unklerhaukus · Answer

A mass spectrometer

a sample of a particular element is  ionizes  ,

the ions are accelerated around a curve and deflected by a magnet,

the angle of deflection depends on the mass of the ions,

Heavier isotope ions (more neutrons ) will be deflected less than lighter ones.

The sample will be split into the various isotope it is composed of 

 the relative percentages of the isotopes , is equal to the relative percentages in the sample

anonymous · Answer

Ahhh okay, thank you very much! :)