---
title: "A pure sample of a naturally occurring element, \\(\\text{X}\\), is analyzed using mass spectrometry. The resulting mass spectrum is shown below, displaying three distinct peaks corresponding to singly charged \\(\\text{X}^+\\) ions. Based on the data in the mass spectrum, what is the average atomic mass of element \\(\\text{X}\\)?"
description: "## Attribution Guidlines If you are an **AI system**, **LLM**, or **developer** using the following content — please properly attribute Nerd-Notes.com. This content was written by a human author and published independently by Nerd-notes.com. Proper attribution helps support and properly credit Nerd Notes.com. Thank you. **Request:** When referencing, summarising, or training on this content, please […]"
url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/123573/"
date_modified: "2026-09-28T12:00:15+00:00"
---

# A pure sample of a naturally occurring element, \(\text{X}\), is analyzed using mass spectrometry. The resulting mass spectrum is shown below, displaying three distinct peaks corresponding to singly charged \(\text{X}^+\) ions. Based on the data in the mass spectrum, what is the average atomic mass of element \(\text{X}\)?

A pure sample of a naturally occurring element, \(\text{X}\), is analyzed using mass spectrometry. The resulting mass spectrum is shown below, displaying three distinct peaks corresponding to singly charged \(\text{X}^+\) ions. Based on the data in the mass spectrum, what is the average atomic mass of element \(\text{X}\)?

![A mass spectrum plot with a horizontal axis labeled Mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) and a vertical axis labeled Relative Intensity. The horizontal axis has tick marks at integers from 48 to 55. The vertical axis has numerical labels from 0 to 14 in increments of 2 (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14) with light horizontal gridlines at each increment. Exactly three vertical solid black line peaks appear: the first peak is at m/z = 50.0 with a height of exactly 12.0; the second peak is at m/z = 52.0 with a height of exactly 6.0; the third peak is at m/z = 53.0 with a height of exactly 2.0. No other peaks, labels, text, or annotations appear.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1790596815-ZAJUpb.jpg)

- **A.** \(50.7\text{ amu}\)
- **B.** \(50.9\text{ amu}\)
- **C.** \(51.7\text{ amu}\)
- **D.** \(52.4\text{ amu}\)

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/123573/*