<p>Hello! I don’t know if I could post questions here and ask for help but I’ve been trying to figure this out for over a week now and all my resources do nothing except confuse me even more! The question is theoretical and thanks to anyone who spares the time to drop a line and answer it!
So, are natural and relative abundance of isotopes one and the same thing? If not, how to they differ?
My textbook says that the natural abundance is the percentage of each isotope relative to the whole. And relative abundance is the percentage at which each isotope is found in nature. I am not English and I can’t catch what distinguishes the two definitions.
Thanks a lot again! :)</p>
<p>Simply put Natural abundance (NA) is the relative isotopic abundance on a planet. The reason for the distinction is because NA varies from planet to planet and even place to place on earth bcos of effects of phenomenon such as nucleosynthesis (in nuc rxns) etc.
So scientists need to specify what varies.</p>