| MadSci Network: Chemistry |
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How are percent naturally occurring isotope abundances determined?
Average atomic weights are determined by getting a weighted average of all naturally occurring isotopes of a given element. Textbooks list tables of percent isotopic abundances, but how are these obtained? Surely not all samples of a given element have the same isotopic composition, right? Percent isotopic abundance is determined with a mass spectrometer, which can "weigh atoms" and give you relative abundances of species with different masses. For more information, see this answer.
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