HON CHEMISTRY: Here’s the lesson for Thursday! Isn’t God awesome to give us minds to understand the world around us – even the parts we can’t see!
Today we talk about isotopes and calculating average atomic mass. Make sure you practice all the ways to write nuclear symbols. Also make sure you can use them to determine the number of protons, neutrons, electrons, etc., AND be sure you can use the formula to find average atomic mass!
Here are some answers for tonight’s homework:
#19) 39.95 u
#20) 10.00 u
#34) 9 x 10^12 more dense
Can you believe atoms are that small – and the nucleus even waaaaaay smaller! The thumbnail is a picture of atoms from the IBM Almaden Research Center. These are iron atoms on top of copper. Being able to move atoms around like this was a giant leap in the field of nanotechnology! (Sorry about that, bad pun! 🙂 )
Image source IBM Almaden Research Center
Q: Why are some radioisotopes used in medicine when most radioactive elements are dangerous?
A: Many radioisotopes have short half-lives, so the isotope usually decays before it can cause damage to a patient’s body. The targeted cells are already weakened, so the radioisotope kills these cells before any harm is done to the others, and the isotope decays.