The water found on earth is almost entirely made up of the 1h and 16o isotopes for a formula of h2o and a molecular mass of 18.0 amu. what is the largest mass that a water molecule could have using other isotopes? express the mass numerically in atomic mass units.

The largest mass that a water molecule could have using other isotopes = 24.0312

The elements in nature have several types of isotopes

Isotopes are atoms whose no-atom has the same number of protons while still having a different number of neutrons.

So Isotopes are elements that have the same Atomic Number (Proton)

Atomic mass is the average atomic mass of all its isotopes

In determining the mass of an atom, as a standard is the mass of 1 carbon-12 atom whose mass is 12 amu

So the atomic mass obtained is the mass of the atom relative to the carbon atom

An atomic mass unit = amu is a relative atomic mass of 1/12 the mass of an atom of carbon-12.

The 'amu' unit has now been replaced with a unit of 'u' only

for example, Carbon has 3 isotopes, namely ₆C¹², ₆C¹³, and ⁶C¹⁴

To determine the largest molecular mass for air, we use the largest isotope mass of Hydrogen and Oxygen as its constituent elements

Hydrogen (1 H) has 3 stable natural isotopes, namely ₁H¹, ₁H², and ₁H³

There are also unstable isotopes obtained through the synthesis in laboratories ₁H⁴, ₁H⁵, ₁H⁶ and ₁H7⁷

While Oxygen (₁₆O) has 3 natural isotopes ₈O¹⁶, ₈O¹⁷, and ₈O¹⁸

If we use the largest mass of isotopes, we use stable isotopes ₁H³ and ₈O¹⁸ to form 1 H₂O water molecule

₁H³ = 3,016 049 amu

and the atomic mass of ₈O¹⁸ = 17,999 amu

So that the mass of the water molecule

= 2. The atomic mass of ₁H³ + 1. atomic mass ₈O¹⁸

= 2. atomic mass of 3,0161 amu + 17,999 amu

= 24.0312

Water itself has no atomic mass, because water is a molecule

And we should be able to distinguish between the number of mass and atomic mass

The subatomic particle that has the least mass

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element X

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about subatomic particles statement

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Keywords: mass number, atomic mass, amu, isotope