Lab 4: Atomic Mass of Candium


Introduction/Purpose: One of the primary values used to identify elements is average atomic mass, which is the weighted average of all isotopes of an element. In this lab, we simulated finding an element's average atomic mass with finding the average weighted mass of three types of candies: Peanut M&Ms, Skittles, and M&Ms. 

Our average mass: 
The formula for average weighted mass is:


The data collected from our sample of candies:

Our final average weighted mass of the candies is:



Ask a group nearby what their average atomic mass was. Why would your average atomic mass be different than theirs?
A neighboring group's average atomic mass was 1.05 g. Our average atomic mass, 1.03 g, and theirs differ because in a random sample, any combination(distribution) of the three candies is possible. Moreover, there is no way to control the manufacturer's distribution and masses of the candies. However, when the sample size is large enough, all average weighted masses taken from the population of candies will approach a theoretical value. 

If larger samples of candium were used, for example if I gave you a whole backpack filled with candium, would the differences between your average atomic mass and others' average atomic masses be bigger or smaller? Defend your answer.
As the sample size of candium increases, all average atomic masses begin to approach some theoretical distributional value. Thus, since variability is lowered when sample size is increased, all average atomic mass should become increasingly closer to one another in value. 

If you took any piece of candium from your sample and placed it on the balance, would it have the exact average atomic mass that you calculated? Why or why not?
No, not all pieces of candium have the exact calculated average atomic mass. This is attributed to the unaccountable variability in the manufacturer's masses of the candies. 

Conclusion: In this lab we found components such as decimal abundance and average mass to ultimately determine the average weighted(atomic) mass of candium. 



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