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Question
question:
what happens to the average atomic mass when the number of heavier isotopes increases in a sample?
○ it becomes a whole number
○ it increases
○ it stays the same
○ it decreases
Average atomic mass is a weighted average of the masses of an element's isotopes, where the weights are the relative abundances of each isotope. If the number of heavier isotopes (isotopes with greater mass) increases in a sample, their relative abundance (or contribution to the average) increases. Since heavier isotopes have a larger mass value, a higher proportion of them will lead to a higher weighted average. So the average atomic mass increases.
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B. It increases