Isotope dilution

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/isotope-dilution

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the key applications?Environmental analysis, clinical chemistry, pharmacology, food safety, geochemistry, and materials science
2. Why do scientists use a special enriched isotope?The enriched isotope stands out from the natural ones, so the machine can tell them apart and calculate the amount accurately.
3. How does adding the enriched isotope help the measurement?It mixes with the sample, and the ratio of the two types of atoms is measured; this ratio lets scientists figure out the original amount even if the sample changes.

Analyte: The specific chemical substance being measured or analyzed in a sample.
Isotopically enriched spike: A precisely quantified amount of a substance containing a significantly higher proportion of a specific isotope than its natural abundance.
Metrological standing: The level of accuracy, reliability, and traceability of a measurement method as recognized by scientific and standardization bodies.
Mass spectrometry: An analytical technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of ions, commonly used to identify and quantify isotopes.