Chapter 4.1, Problem 7LC

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation : The mass of a single carbon atom is to be calculated.

Concept Introduction : The smallest component of an element that maintains its identity during a chemical reaction is called an atom. The mass of a single atom is given as:

  $\text{Mass}\text{of}\text{single}\text{atom}\text{=}\frac{\text{Atomic}\text{mass}\text{of}\text{the}\text{element}}{\text{Avogadro's}\text{number}}$

Answer to Problem 7LC

The mass of a single copper atom is $1.05\times {10}^{-22}\text{g}$ .

Explanation of Solution

The smallest component of an element that maintains its identity during a chemical reaction is called an atom. The mass of a single atom is given as:

  $\text{Mass}\text{of}\text{single}\text{atom}\text{=}\frac{\text{Atomic}\text{mass}\text{of}\text{the}\text{element}}{\text{Avogadro's}\text{number}}$

Mass of the element Copper is $63.5\text{g}$ .

The total no. of atoms is $6.022\times {10}^{23}\text{atoms}$ . This no. is called Avogadro’s number.

To calculate the mass of a single copper atom, substitute the values in the above formula:

  $\begin{array}{c}\text{Mass}\text{of}\text{single}\text{atom}\text{=}\frac{\text{Atomic}\text{mass}\text{of}\text{the}\text{element}}{\text{Avogadro's}\text{number}}\\ \text{Mass}\text{of}\text{single}\text{Cu atom}=\frac{63.5\text{g}}{6.022\times {10}^{23}\text{atoms}}\\ =10.544\times {10}^{-23}\\ =1.05\times {10}^{-22}\text{g}\end{array}$