Ever find yourself staring at the periodic table? Like, how do they get those crazy specific atomic weights? Template a 1, moron. Really? Today's deep dive, we are all about what those numbers really mean.

You know? We've got this website. It's from, like, a college chemistry course, and it's way more interesting than it sounds, I gotta say. Yeah. You would be surprised how many people they just think of, you know, elements as if they're these fixed unchanging things when, like, in reality, it's more it's more like you've got variations on a theme.

Okay. Yeah. I like that. Variations on a theme. Okay.

So the reading, it's all about isotopes. High school chemistry is coming back to me a little bit. Something about, like, they're the same element, but they have different weights. Exactly. So same number of protons.

Right? That's what actually defines the element. But that neutron count, that can be different. And that's where you get these isotopes. Think of it this way.

When you see the atomic weight on the periodic table, that's not like the weight of just one atom. It's like the average weight of all the naturally occurring isotopes of that element, you've gotta factor them all in. Okay. So it's like if we were to say survey a bunch of dogs and we found out that the average weight of a dog is £30, doesn't mean every single dog weighs £30. Right.

You've got, like, your little chihuahuas in there and then you've got your big old labradors. Precisely. And by knowing that average, that atomic weight and the, like, you know, quote, weights of the individual isotopes, we can work backwards and figure out what proportion of each isotope naturally exists. And that's that percent abundance. Okay.

Okay. I think I'm, like, starting to put the puzzle pieces together here. Yeah. So how does this work in practice then? Okay.

So our source material, they use this great example, boron. From the periodic table, we know its atomic weight, 10.81. And we also know the boron has 2 common isotopes, boron 10 and boron 11. So that's like saying we know the average weight, back to our dogs, average weight of dogs in the park is £30. And we know that a chihuahua is usually about this much, and a Labrador is usually about this much.

Yeah. So now we need to figure out how many of each are there to make that average weight work. Exactly. And that's where, you know, the math comes in. Imagine a seesaw.

Right? Yeah. Perfectly balanced. On one side, we've got boron 10, the other side boron 11. Now, the distance each of those sits from the center, that represents its percent abundance.

So, like, the heavier isotope boron 11 is gonna be a bit closer to the center to balance out the lighter boron 10, which is further away. And so by using the known weights and that overall atomic weight, we can calculate exactly how far each side needs to be from the center to make it balanced, essentially. That's figuring out the percent abundance of each isotope. Okay. Wow.

That's, like, that actually makes it so much clearer. It's just, like, wild how they can break down something, you know, as seemingly simple as as an atomic weight on the periodic table, and it turns into this whole calculation with, like, a seesaw. You know, it's pretty cool. And it gets even more interesting because our source, they then kinda throw us for a loop. They bring up neon, which actually has 3 naturally occurring isotopes.

So that calculation gets a little more complex. Okay. So neon, 3 isotopes. Where do we even begin when an element's got multiple isotopes like that? Okay.

So neon, 3 isotopes. How do they even like, I don't know. Where do you even begin with that when an element has that many? Well, it's kinda like, you know, that seesaw we were talking about. But boron, it's like that, but, more weights on it, you know.

So we've got our seesaw, but now we've got 3 weights. 1 for each of the neon isotopes. Now our source, they tell us that the rarest of these isotopes, neon 21, that one's only got an abundance of like 0.27%, so super tiny. But by knowing that and the atomic weight, like the overall one for neon, plus the weights of all the individual isotopes, we can use that info to figure out how much of those other 2 isotopes there's gotta be. Wow.

So it's like they only gave us this one little clue, and we can figure out the rest. That's kinda neat. But did it I don't know. Like, did it all work out perfectly? I feel like the numbers that small, even if you round something a little bit, it mess the whole thing up.

Right? You're totally right. And this is where I think our source gets really cool Mhmm. Because they actually point that out. They're like, hey, when we calculated the percentages for all these neon isotopes, it didn't add up to exactly 100%.

You're thinking, what's going on there? And the reason is, even the official atomic weight, the one you see on the periodic table, that's been rounded too. Wait. So you're telling me even that number that we think of as like a constant, it's not even totally accurate. That's kind of, I don't know, unsettling in a way.

It is. Yeah. But it's also, I think, a good reality check. Yeah. Right?

Because it tells us even in science, with these things that seem so fundamental, there are still limitations to our data. Every measurement we take, there's some degree of uncertainty there. And knowing that, that's super important for how we think about, like, interpreting the results of any experiment really. So, like, even that tiny rounding on that atomic weight that could have this ripple effect through all these other calculations, man, it's really making me see the periodic table in a whole new way. I know.

Right? And it just speaks to how precise, like, chemists and physicists, how precise they have to be with all their measurements. And our source, they actually mention, they say, you know, if you use an even more precise atomic weight like the one that the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST, they keep one. If you use that, you can actually get even more accurate isotopic abundances. Oh, wow.

Okay. So there's, like, this, like, whole another level down of precision that I didn't even I don't know. I never even think about, which is it's kinda cool. You know? It's, like, a good reminder.

Like, we always think we know things, but then there's always more to learn. Even with something as, like, you know, the elements on the periodic table. Right? Right. But I guess, like, why does any of this even matter?

Like, if we know or we don't know the exact percentage of all these different isotopes, I don't know. Is that really important? What's the big deal? Well, I mean, besides just, like, you know, satisfying our own curiosity about how the universe works, there are actually some really practical applications of this. Like, in a lot of different fields, they use this stuff.

Okay. Yeah. Give an example then. Like, how are people using this, I don't know, with different isotopes outside of, like, a chemistry lab? Okay.

So think about, like, archaeology. Mhmm. I'm sure you've heard of carbon dating. Right? Well, that technique, it completely relies on this whole idea of isotopes and their abundance.

So carbon 14, that's a rarer isotope of carbon. Right? Mhmm. And it decays radioactively at this very predictable rate. So by comparing how much carbon 14 versus regular carbon 12 is in, like, an ancient artifact and how much is in the atmosphere, archaeologists, they can figure out, like, how old something is.

No way. That's so cool. So something we were just talking about this, like, theoretical seesaw and all this, and it can tell us about something that's, like, you know, 1000 of years old. I don't know. It really makes you appreciate, like, how all these different parts of science, they all connect to each other.

You know? It's true. And that's just one example too. I mean, they use isotopic analysis for geology to study, like, how rocks and minerals form. Mhmm.

Even in medicine, you know, with radioactive isotopes, they use them for diagnosis and treatment, all kinds of stuff. See, that's what I'm saying. It's like, I had no idea. Percent abundance, who knew it, played such a big role in so many different things. This has been wow.

Okay. So, like, if we were to wrap this up, you know, for our listeners, what would you say? Like, what's the one thing you hope they take away from this whole deep dive? I know. Right?

We started with, like, just this number on the periodic table, and we went to isotopes and, like, seesaws. And now we're talking about, like, ancient artifacts and medical treatments, all this stuff. It's crazy how much is packed into this whole percent abundance thing. It really is. But that's kinda like the coolest thing about science.

Right? It's like even when you think you've got something simple, there's like this whole deeper level to it, this whole other way of looking at the world. It's like you were saying at the beginning. It's like variations on a theme. Right?

It's never just black and white. It's all those little, like, I don't know, shades of gray and these isotopes. That's a perfect example of that. Totally. And the more we learn, it's like, the more we realize how much we don't know.

You know? It makes you wonder, like, what are we gonna be talking about in a year when we do these deep dives? What else are we gonna find out that, like, totally changes how we think about stuff? Oh, I'm sure there's plenty out there. And, hey, maybe someone listening right now, maybe this will be the thing that, like, gets them thinking in a new way, and they make the next big discovery.

Oh, I love that. So, yeah, next time you're looking at that periodic table, just remember, those atomic weights, they're not just numbers. They're like I don't know. They're like little doors, right, to this whole world of isotopes and, like, all this really precise science that ends up, like, you know, it connects to everything. How we understand history and technology, even our own bodies, it all comes back to this stuff.

It really goes to show you should never just brush something off, you know, even a simple question. It can lead you to all these amazing places. Well said. I think that's a good place to, to wrap things up. So to everyone listening, until next time.

Keep those brains buzzing, and we'll see you on the next deep dive.