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Question -

How can you determine the atomic mass of anunknown metal if you know its density and the dimension of its unit cell?Explain.



Answer -

By knowing the density of an unknown metal andthe dimension of its unit cell, the atomic mass of the metal can be determined.

Let ‘a’ be the edge length of a unitcell of a crystal, ‘d’ be the density of the metal, ‘m’ bethe mass of one atom of the metal and ‘z’ be the number ofatoms in the unit cell.

Now, density of the unitcell

[Since mass of the unit cell = Number ofatoms in the unit cell × mass of one atom]

[Volume of the unit cell = (Edge length of thecubic unit cell)3]

From equation (i), we have:

Now, mass of one atom of metal (m

Therefore,

If the edge lengths are different(say ab and c), then equation (ii)becomes:

M = d(abc)NAz     (iv)M = d(abc)NAz     (iv)

From equations (iii) and (iv), wecan determine the atomic mass of the unknown metal.

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