Page 1: Calculating Relative Atomic Mass and Electron Configuration

This page covers the essential concepts of calculating relative atomic mass (RAM) and understanding electron configurations. The detailed explanation includes the RAM of titanium calculation using isotopic compositions and demonstrates the mass spectrometry isotopic composition process.

Definition: Relative atomic mass (RAM) is calculated by multiplying each isotope's mass by its percentage composition and summing the results.

Example: The RAM calculation for titanium using its isotopes:

• Ti-46 (8.9%)
• Ti-47 (9.8%)
• Ti-48 (81.3%) Calculation: (46 × 8.9) + (47 × 9.8) + (48 × 81.3) = 47.7

Highlight: When dealing with electron configurations, the 4s orbital fills before the 3d orbital, despite 3d being lower in number.

Vocabulary: Mass spectrometry - A scientific process used to determine the atomic mass of molecules by analyzing their mass-to-charge ratio.

Example: For chlorine's RAM of 35.5: Let x be the percentage of Cl-35 Let y be the percentage of Cl-37 x + y = 100 35.5 = (35x + 37y)/100 Solving gives x = 75% and y = 25%