If the relative atomic mass of an element is not a whole number, it can be deduced that the element is?
Naturally radioactive
abundant in nature
a transition metal
an isotopic mixture
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If the relative atomic mass of an element is not a whole number, it can be deduced that the element is likely to have more than one stable isotope. This means that the element has atoms with different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei, resulting in different atomic masses. The relative atomic mass is a weighted average of the masses of all the isotopes of the element, taking into account their abundance in nature.
For example, carbon has two stable isotopes: carbon-12 and carbon-13, with atomic masses of 12.0000 and 13.0034 respectively. The relative atomic mass of carbon is therefore not a whole number, but approximately 12.01, which reflects the fact that carbon-13 is less abundant than carbon-12 in nature.
Other elements, such as chlorine and bromine, also have isotopes with different masses, which leads to non-whole numbers for their relative atomic masses. So, if you encounter an element with a non-whole relative atomic mass, it suggests the possibility of multiple stable isotopes for that element.
Relative isotopic masses are always close to whole-number values, but never (except in the case of carbon-12) exactly a whole number, for two reasons: protons and neutrons have different masses, and different nuclides have different ratios of protons and neutrons.
The answer is D because:
The Relative Atomic mass of an isotopic mixture or of an element exhibiting isotopy is the average relative atomic masses of the various isotopes of the elements as they occur naturally in any quantity of the element.
