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Isotopes and Atomic Mass
Are all atoms of an element the same? How can you tell one isotope from another? Use the sim to learn about isotopes and how abundance relates to the average atomic mass of an element.
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Teaching Resources
Main Topics
- Isotopes
- Atomic Mass
Sample Learning Goals
- Define “isotope” using mass number, atomic number, number of protons, neutrons and electrons.
- Given information about an element, find the mass and name of an isotope.
- Give evidence to support or dispute: “In nature, the chance of finding one isotope of an element is the same for all isotopes.”
- Find the average atomic mass of an element given the abundance and mass of its isotopes.
- Predict how the mass and name of an isotope will change given a change in the number of protons, neutrons or electrons.
- Predict how the average atomic mass of an element changes given a change in the abundance of its isotopes.
Tips for Teachers
The teacher's guide (pdf) contains tips created by the PhET team.
Teaching Ideas
| Title | Authors | Level | Type | Updated |
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Exploring Average Atomic Mass
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Stephanie Davis | HS | Lab | 9/28/11 |
Using PhET in High School Chemistry- all my activities in pdf
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Trish Loeblein | UG-Intro HS |
Demo HW CQs Lab |
5/8/13 |
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Isotopes & Atomic Mass-Inquiry Activity
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Patricia Loeblein | UG-Intro HS |
Demo Lab CQs HW |
6/5/11 |
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Concept Questions for Chemistry using PhET
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Trish Loeblein | MS UG-Intro HS |
CQs | 5/8/13 |
| Isotopes and Stability PhET Lab | Chris Bires | HS MS |
Lab | 3/14/12 |
| Modeling Relative Atomic Mass | Roberto Marrero | UG-Intro HS |
HW Lab |
8/28/11 |
| Modeling Isotopes | Roberto Marrero | MS HS |
HW Lab |
5/27/11 |
| 동위원소와 원자량 SIM 사용지침서 | 이화국(Wha Kuk Lee) | HS MS |
Other Demo |
5/8/13 |
You can submit your own ideas and activities.
Related Simulations
Translated Versions:
Software Requirements
| Windows | Macintosh | Linux |
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Microsoft Windows
XP/Vista/7 Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later |
OS 10.5 or later
Sun Java 1.5.0_19 or later |
Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later |
Credits
| Design Team | Third-party Libraries | Thanks To |
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