Why is the atomic weight of bromine listed on the periodic table not a whole number?

Answer 1

Because it reflects the isotopic abundance of bromine....

All the elements have an envelope of isotopes, and the atomic mass quoted on the Periodic Table is the WEIGHTED AVERAGE of the individual isotopes...

To a first approximation bromine consists of TWO isotopes: #51%# #""^79Br#, and #49%# #""^81Br#. The weighted average of the isotopes gives the quoted atomic mass...

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Answer 2

Xavier Avery

The atomic weight of bromine listed on the periodic table is not a whole number because it is an average of the isotopic masses of its naturally occurring isotopes, bromine-79 and bromine-81, which have atomic masses close to whole numbers but are not whole numbers themselves.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.